The sacrifice made by the veterans must be valued – Nyusi

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The sacrifice made by the veterans must be valued – Nyusi

7:41 CAT | 08 Sep 2017

Rádio Moçambique

Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi recognised on Thursday that there are still military veterans who are not receiving the pensions to which they are entitled.

Speaking in Lichinga, capital of the northern province of Niassa, during the central celebrations of Victory Day, the anniversary of the signing in Lusaka, on 7 September 1974, of the independence agreement between the Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo) and the Portuguese government, Nyusi said the failure to pay pension rights was putting veterans in an “undignified” situation.

“This is a scenario that has to be reversed, because the sacrifice made by the veterans must be valued”, declared the President.

He cited figures from the Ministry of Veterans’ Affairs, according to which, over the last two and a half years, the Ministry processed 41,847 pensions. 29,914 of these were for veterans of the national liberation struggle, and 15,875 were for demobilized soldiers from the post independence period (from both the armed forces and the Renamo rebels).

Of this number, the Ministry of Economy and Finance fixed 27,130 pensions – 14,799 for veterans of the liberation struggle, while 10,949 were the “reinsertion bonus” for demobilised troops. The rest were benefits paid to the families of fighters who had lost their lives.

“There is still a lot to do”, said Nyusi. “But everything is being undertaken to ensure that the survey of all the fighters is concluded and their pensions fixed”.

Nyusi said that the independence won with Lusaka Accords was “the greatest conquest ever made by Mozambicans”.

He reaffirmed his commitment to peace and dialogue, particularly with “our brothers of Renamo”. He stressed that, when the goal is participatory and inclusive governance, then good ideas have no political party colours.

The current search for an effective and lasting peace, Nyusi said, “obliges us to reach consensus, through valuing useful ideas that come from differing opinions”.

“Peace is for everybody, and should be built by all of us”, he declared, calling on all Mozambicans to set examples of forgiveness, mutual respect, tolerance, patriotism and solidarity.

Source: AIM