President calls for Mozambicans to live in peace

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President calls for Mozambicans to live in peace

2:39 CAT | 14 Jul 2018

Photo: O País

President Filipe Nyusi on Thursday appealed for Mozambicans to live in peace and be reconciled as brothers and sisters, and to focus on increasing productivity and production to overcome hunger.

Speaking at a rally in Chuala, in the central province of Manica, the President stressed, “nobody should be the enemy of another. Let us live together as brothers. We are working so all Mozambicans can live where they want without fear”.

At the rally, locals demanded the withdrawal of armed men from the opposition party Renamo who are positioned in the area. President Nyusi responded, “we cannot speak of effective peace without people ceasing to carry arms. We appeal to everyone to spread the message we cannot live in peace and continue to be armed”.

President Nyusi stressed Manica is not the only province facing this difficulty, with armed men from Renamo in Zambezia and Sofala”.

Turning to recent talks with the leadership of Renamo, the President argued “Mozambicans cannot be afraid of each other. This is why we are discussing with Renamo a solution to how these Mozambicans who have spent years living with arms can be disarmed and reintegrated into society”.

The President added that he has spoken with some of the Renamo gunmen who told him all they wanted to do was to leave the bush and live a normal life.

Residents also told the President of the need for an expansion in the networks of water, electricity, roads, hospitals, schools, bridges, markets, and ambulances. They also called for financial support for those who had lost property during the armed conflict.

In response, President Nyusi said the rehabilitation of the Chicamba dam will strengthen the capacity to deliver electricity. The President pointed out that the country’s socio-economic development has increased the demand for power which is being met with the gradual expansion of the electricity network. Thus, he said, the zones of Rotanda and Espungabera, which used to receive their power from Zimbabwe, are now connected to the national network. This will soon expand to cover Honde.

President Nyusi will also visit Sussundenga, Machaze, and the city of Chimoio during his working visit to the province.

On Wednesday in the central city of Beira, President Nyusi signed an agreement on the demilitarisation of Renamo with Ossufo Momade, the coordinator of the Renamo Political Commission.

This agreement should end the deadlock between the parliamentary groups of Renamo and of the ruling Frelimo Party which made it impossible to hold an extraordinary sitting of the country’s parliament, the Assembly of the Republic, in late June. The sitting is necessary to amend the electoral legislation so that the municipal elections can be held on schedule, in October.

Frelimo refused to allow the sitting to go ahead before there was a firm commitment to demilitarisation from Renamo,

A statement from the President’s office said that he and Momade had agreed in Beira on “the principles, processes, actions, and timetable for the inclusion of soldiers from Renamo in the armed forces (FADM) and the police”.

The two men reaffirmed “the consensus previously obtained (between President Nyusi and the late Renamo leader Afonso Dhlakama) on military matters regarding the disarming, demobilisation and reintegration of Renamo’s armed men”.

Source: AIM