Watch – Nyusi urges Constitutional Council to promote the protection of citizens

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Watch – Nyusi urges Constitutional Council to promote the protection of citizens

12:35 CAT | 15 Jul 2016

File Photo / President Filipe Nyusi

President Filipe Nyusi yesterday argued that the Constitutional Council (CC) of Mozambique should promote the protection of citizens’ rights.

“By becoming better known, the Constitutional Council can be the place where citizens find the necessary protection against the possible illegality other state bodies’ actions,” President Nyusi said, speaking at the inauguration of President of the Council, Hermenegildo Gamito, to a second term at the head of the institution.

The Mozambique head of state pointed out that the renewal of Gamito’s term was the visible expression of the trust, expectation and hope that Mozambican society placed in him.

Mhoje_nyusigamito5_photo_jpg — President Filipe Nyusi greets president of the Constitutional Council of Mozambique Hermenegildo Gamito

Challenging the council to “come out of its cocoon” and to inform Mozambicans about its role, Filipe Nyusi said the interaction with other sectors of society was important for the body to be “a vector for the exercise of responsible citizenship”.

In response, Gamito pointed to increasing the number of judges and changing the name of the body from Constitutional Council to Constitutional Court as the main challenges for the next five years.

“We want to give the body a different responsiveness,” Gamito said, adding that the council would continue to value discreet but effective action.

With a Law degree by the University of Lisbon, Hermenegildo Gamito is an active member of the Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo), the ruling party in Mozambique. He has served as a judge, member of parliament, the chairman of various public companies and, at the time of his first appointment to the Constitutional Council, was working as a lawyer and entrepreneur.

Hermenegildo Gamito has lead the Constitutional Council since 2011 and replaced Luis Mondlane, who resigned after the media reported that he had misused about 12 million meticais (EUR 160,000) of the body’s funds.