Defence Minister Launches Military Recruitment in Dondo, Mozambique

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Defence Minister Launches Military Recruitment in Dondo, Mozambique

2:47 CAT | 07 Jan 2016

Jornal Notícias

Mozambican Defence Minister Atanasio Mtumuke on Wednesday launched the 2016 registration for military service at Dondo, in the central province of Sofala.

He described registration as “the professional reaffirmation of young people in the service of national defence”. It was also “a sacred duty and an honour for all Mozambicans”.

Mtumuke pointed out that, since by no means all those who register can be called up for military service, a National Civic Service was established under a law of 2009, “with the purpose of undertaking administrative, welfare, cultural and economic activities” .

The Civic Service is “paramilitary”, he said, and is not provided in barracks or other military premises. “This service brings together young people on missions of a civilian nature, aimed at the economic and social development of the country”, Mtumuke added,

But the entry point for civil and military service was the same – registration in the first two months of the year. Both military and civic service are “instruments for the promotion of national unity, and for raising patriotic awareness”, said the Minister. “They are a process of teaching and learning, where young Mozambicans learn to live with people of different origins”.

The law states that all young Mozambican should register for military service in the year of their 18th birthday. According to projections made by the National Statistics Institute from the 2007 population census, 549,000 Mozambicans will celebrate their 18th birthday in 2016. Yet the Defence Ministry has only set a target of 170,000 for the 2016 registration.

This is the same target as in 2015. In that year, the Ministry overfulfilled the target, and 221,760 young Mozambicans registered. Even so, this was less than half of the 535,000 Mozambicans who turned 18 in 2015.

Nonetheless, Mtumuke praised “the high growth in patriotic awareness among young people, who are understanding the importance of complying with their duty to present themselves at the military registration posts set up throughout the country”.

Source: AIM