Mozambique: Commission to assess statue of Eduardo Mondlane after criticisms – Watch

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Mozambique: Commission to assess statue of Eduardo Mondlane after criticisms – Watch

9:22 CAT | 08 Oct 2024

Screen grab: O País

Mozambique’s government announced on Thursday that it will set up a technical team to evaluate and correct the statue of Eduardo Mondlane, the first president of the Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (Frelimo), which was inaugurated in Maputo, following criticism from the public.

“After the statue was unveiled on 25 September, public opinion raised issues related to proportionality versus anatomy. Therefore, in order to respond to the concerns of Mozambicans, a process and technical evaluation of the sculpture will be initiated, the results and corrective actions of which will be communicated in due course,” announced the Minister of Culture and Tourism, Eldevina Materula, at a press conference in Maputo on Thursday.

The statue of Eduardo Mondlane (1920-1969), the first president of Frelimo, the party in power since independence, was inaugurated last September 25, the day of the Armed Defence Forces of Mozambique. In the following days, the public strongly criticized its proportions and anatomy.

At a press conference in Maputo, the minister of culture and tourism said that the statue, which cost the Mozambique government 22 million meticais (€312,000), had been evaluated and approved by government officials, artists, former combatants, and Eduardo Mondlane’s relatives before it was erected on Avenida Eduardo Mondlane, in the heart of Maputo.

“The technical assessment will determine what is wrong on a technical level concerning the proportions, whether it’s the head, the legs or any other element of the statue. If it is determined that there are errors, we will take corrective action,” she insisted, adding that the same commission will also determine accountability for possible errors.

Eldevina Materula said the process of building the statue by the private company Arte de Gema began in Mozambique and was finalised in China.

“The same technical team will determine how long the assessment will last and whether there will be costs for corrections and subsequent steps (…) At the moment, we want a technical assessment to respond to public opinion,” she emphasised.

The Mozambican government approved the project to build a new statue of Eduardo Mondlane in 2020 as part of the centenary celebrations of Frelimo’s first president.

Source: Lusa