Mozambique: Ibo administrator says he’s staying

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Mozambique: Ibo administrator says he’s staying

4:55 CAT | 08 Oct 2020

File photo: HELPO ONGD / Facebook

In a rare gesture, Issa Tarmamade, the administrator of the district of Ibo, in a region heavily harassed by the terrorists who have been plaguing various areas of Mozambique’s northern Cabo Delgado province, is refusing to be among the first to leave the local district headquarters for another location considered “relatively safe”.

Issa Tarmamade feels that it is “unfair”, as a leader, to be one of the first to leave the capital of the district of Ibo, leaving his people behind, according to a website based in the north of the country.

It is said that Issa Tarmamade recently ordered a helicopter, sent to Ibo expressly to rescue him, to return to its origin, with other “anonymous” passengers on board.

The Ibo administrator’s attitude is the subject of much comment in the district and beyond, a fact fuelled by the current climate, characterised by an apparent lack of leaders who share the noble principle of “the first in sacrifices and the last in benefits”.

The Ibo administrator’s choice has garnered wide praise from many local residents, who recalled his behaviour during Cyclone Kenneth, in April 2019, when he refused to leave the district capital, instead transforming it into an “island of good organisation” (“Ilha Bem Organizada”) after it was 90 percent destroyed by the cyclone.

The discreet 68-year-old former combatant, who already headed the provincial capital of Cabo Delgado before going to Ibo, in the past declined offers to go to work in Maputo city, insisting on staying in his natal region.

The Correio da Manhã knows that, in private,Issa Tarmamade swears that he sees no reason to leave Ibo, where he says he intends to make old dreams come true, including an increase in coffee production, he being the owner of a few coffee trees in the region.

A businessman with interests in Matemo, located northeast of the island of Ibo in Cabo Delgado province, commented to Correio da Manhã that the attitude of Issa Tarmamade, was not surprising.

“Note that, instead of thinking about leaving the district headquarters, our administrator instead turns to solving the population’s problems. I know that his current concern, for example, is to have the boat repaired, because it guarantees communication between the district headquarters and the mainland. The boat recently had engine failure. The attitude of this man is simply amazing,” our source commented.

Like many areas in Cabo Delgado, Ibo district has been under constant threat from terrorists presumed to be associated with the Islamic State group, who since October 2017 have launched attacks that have already resulted in more than 1,300 deaths, with hundreds of thousands of displaced people and considerable destruction.

Apparently, Issa Tarmamade, is the only leader who has refused to leave the place under his administration threatened by the so-called “insurgency” in Cabo Delgado, which even in recent days has witnessed clashes and demonstration of strength in several points, such as Maringanha, Wimbi, Inus, Runho, Nambo, Naunde, Chabane Combo, Rueia and Paquite and Lontho (Nunumwana), Mucojo, Pangane, Messano and Muitiuro.

Source: Correio da Manhã Moçambique