CIP Mozambique Elections: AR proposes district recounts, but continued secrecy
Photo: O País
Former employees of the People’s National Security Service (SNASP) say that they have been paid only 280,000 meticais out of the five million promised by the government and that the Minister of Combatants should not talk about things she knows nothing about.
In their words, Josefina Mpelo would have said that: “the government through the Ministry of Combatants paid the pensions including the seven years of compensation” but this does not constitute the “truth”.
“The minister missed a great opportunity to abstain from this major problem,” representative of the former SNASP officers Adolfo Beira said. “When it appeared, we didn’t even know where it stopped. This matter did not start with this minister, it started in the time of Mateus Kida. Eusébio Lambo – who also knows a little about this robbery that we are protesting against – passed by. We feel sorry for her because she doesn’t know what she’s saying and if she can prove it we can also prove that we didn’t receive what she said.”
The more than 1,800 former SNASP employees do not claim they weren’t paid their pensions, but that they were not paid what was promised, which is five million meticais, not 280,000 meticais.
“We never said we weren’t paid. They paid us such crumbs that not even a hundredth of what was promised was enough, perhaps even a thousandth. We were not promised 280,000 meticais, we were promised five million meticais for each person. Who did they pay? They can’t consider us crazy enough to claim something we already have.”
As they considered the matter to be very long-standing, they recommended that the minister familiarize herself with the dossier, including promises made during the government of former president Armando Guebuza to “seek solutions to the outstanding issues left by Chissano in relation to former security and military counter-intelligence officers”.
Next, Beira explained that the pension amounts were announced by the former Chief of the General Staff, General Lagos Lidimo.
Beira also criticized the general and former president Guebuza for not showing any interest in the progress of the matter.
If there was no speedy resolution, the former military officials were organized to go both ways, Beira warned. “We are organized and it is up to them whether they will resolve it by hook or by crook. We are organized to demand peacefully but if they prefer to use force, we are also prepared, as it is part of our oath,” he said.
In the same intervention, they also responded to General Commander of the PRM, Bernardino Rafael, calling him a liar.
“We do not ask for protection from the police. We have our internal security that protects us. There, plainclothes and armed individuals appeared and we neutralised them. It wasn’t the police who did this. It is true that they came with all their force and violence, with tear gas and dogs against a peaceful group that had no weapons, no stones, no machetes. All PRM specialties were there, and tried to attack people, who ended up only losing some belongings.”
Former “Secret Services” employees say they will defend their rights until the end, as they are pledged to do.
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