Watch: Achievements of veterans have no price – Nyusi

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Watch: Achievements of veterans have no price – Nyusi

7:53 CAT | 08 Sep 2021

Photo: TVM

Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi declared on Tuesday that the achievements of the veterans of the country’s war for independence from Portuguese colonial rule are priceless.

He was speaking in the northern city of Nampula, at celebrations of “Victory Day”, the anniversary of the signature in Lusaka, on 7 September 1974, of the agreement on Mozambican independence between the Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo) and the Portuguese government.

Regardless of the commemorations, Nyusi said, “our government knows that there is nothing that might be done that could pay for the selflessness and sacrifice of these best children of Mozambique. No price can be put on what they did for Mozambique”.

The ceremonies, held at Nampula’s Mozambican Heroes’ Square, were marked by the award of honors and medals to 29 veterans of the independence war. The celebrations were low key, because of the observance of preventive measures against the Covid-19 respiratory disease, which dictate that there can be no large public gatherings.

The restrictions were necessary, Nyusi said, in order not to risk the health of the country’s veterans. So the festivals and parades of previous years could not happen this time.

Nyusi said the government does not intend to demand more sacrifices from the veterans of the national liberation struggle. He praised them for showing awareness and patience, since they understand that all their longings cannot be satisfied at once, while the country is still facing a range of adversities.

“The government is reflecting on the Statute of Veterans in order to confer upon them more respect and dignity, and to improve their social and economic conditions”, he said. “As a government, we remain determined to make efforts to ensure the socio-economic integration of the veterans and their dependents”.

He announced that, in the lengthy process of fixing pensions for veterans, 169,651 veterans have been registered, and 128,254 pensions have been fixed. These figures include both the veterans of the independence struggle, and those who fought in Mozambique’s subsequent wars.

Nyusi put the number of veterans of the national liberation struggle at 97,867, of whom 89,050 are now receiving their pensions “which allows us to say we have reached the figure of 91 per cent”.

Watch The TVM report.