Mozambique: Government knows of no traitors in defence forces – AIM report

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Mozambique: Government knows of no traitors in defence forces – AIM report

4:25 CAT | 15 May 2020

File photo: Miramar

The Mozambican Minister of the Interior, Amade Miquidade, told the county’s parliament, the Assembly of the Republic, on Friday that the government knows of no traitors inside the defence and security forces who are betraying the motherland in the fight against terrorists in parts of the northern province of Cabo Delgado.

Speaking in response to a question from the parliamentary group of the opposition Mozambique Democratic Movement (MDM), Miquidade said “We have no knowledge of any member of our forces who is betraying the country. Those who may do so, shall not be above the law. The law shall fall upon any individual, Mozambican or foreign, who calls into question the sovereignty and integrity of our country”.

The Minister said the terrorism in Cabo Delgado is a camouflaged form of external aggression. “Our strategy”, he continued, “is to build the capacity of the defence and security forces, and to improve their missions to bring peace and tranquillity and to guarantee sovereignty against these external acts which are disguised to look like internal problems”.

The mission of the defence and security forces, he added, is to protect the country, defend its sovereignty and ensure public order. “Nobody is a member or an office holder in the defence forces in order to fight against these principles”, declared Miquidade.

He urged the parliamentary deputies and society at large to cooperate with the State in identifying and denouncing all those who disrupt order and security. “Only thus will we be taking ownership of the battle to defend our sovereignty”, he said.

Miquidade recognised the complexity of the conflict in Cabo Delgado. “What seemed to be an inter-religious conflict has degenerated into a dimension of cruel violence unacceptable in a human society”, he said. “The complexity of the behaviour of the terrorists has led to a resizing of the strategy and resources for fighting it”.

Terrorist actions in Cabo Delgado, the Minister said, included the burning of entire villages, killing and mutilating innocent civilians, and destroying public and private infrastructures.

“We want each of the parliamentary deputies to be a soldier in the fight against the terrorists”, urged Miquidade. “We want, and we appeal to all Mozambicans to be soldiers in the fight against the terrorists. We want, through each and every one of us, to raise the morale of the defence and security forces. We should concentrate on the noble goal of defending the motherland, just as the young people are doing who are giving their lives as a result of the oath they took to defend the country”.

As for the lack of security in parts of central Mozambique, where the self-styled “Renamo Military Junta” has been staging ambushes on the main roads, Miquidade said “what is happening does not make sense”.

He urged those deputies who may be closer to the Junta (certainly referring to members of the Renamo parliamentary group) to persuade them to end their attacks.

Source: AIM