Mozambique: Minister of Defence addresses AU Extraordinary Session of the Assembly on Silencing the Guns

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Mozambique: Minister of Defence addresses AU Extraordinary Session of the Assembly on Silencing the Guns

4:52 CAT | 07 Dec 2020

“The porosity of our borders facilitates trafficking in small arms that are used by criminal, terrorist and extremist groups to perpetrate acts of violence, causing destruction, death and pain in communities, preventing people from benefiting from the dividends of peace in the form of employment, education, health, security and a decent livelihood,” Minister Jaime Neto said. [ File photo. O País]

Minister of National Defence Jaime Bessa Neto this Sunday addressed the African Union’s 14th Extraordinary Session of the Assembly on Silencing the Guns ., advocating that issues concerning peace deserve immediate intervention.

In a context where the issue of terrorism dominates the attention of governments in Africa, and of Mozambique in particular, Jaime Neto took the topic to the extraordinary virtual summit of the African Union where, before AU heads of state and government, he addressed the situation in our country.

The Minister of National Defence used statistics from the continent and from Mozambique. to argue that security issues deserve immediate intervention, or risk culminating in tragedy.

“Work for peace cannot be postponed or even relegated to the background. Despite improvements in the stability situation on the continent, in the past decade, we continue to experience various forms of violence and armed conflicts. According to recently released estimates, between 2013 and 2017, armed conflicts have claimed more than 27,000 lives and caused major material damage on the continent. In my country alone, since 2017 we have recorded about 1,100 deaths associated with armed violence,” the minister said.

Because this year’s motto of the African Union has to do with silencing the guns on the African continent, one of the 14 anchor projects of the 2063 Agenda for Integration and Socio-Economic Transformation, Jaime Neto spoke about the efforts of the Mozambican State to see this goal turned into a reality.

Ten more years

“The adoption of this theme ‘Silencing the Guns’ for the motto of the year 2020 served to galvanise the continent around this issue. As a country, we are considering the introduction of some measures and initiatives with a view to socialising the roadmap for the silencing of guns, through the creation of a unit for the silencing of guns: the socialisation of the Johannesburg Declaration – which provides for an additional 10 years’ extension for the implementation of the African Union roadmap on practical measures to silencing the guns in Africa – under our SADC presidency and incorporation of this motto into the framework of our candidacy to the United Nations Security Council in 2023-2024. The time has come to use this initiative to, once and for all, demystify the recurring narrative which associates our continent with violence,” Minister Jaime Neto concluded.

Also read: Porous borders allow illegal weapons into Mozambique – AIM report

The African Union extraordinary summit lasted approximately six hours and was chaired by the current Chairperson of the African Union and President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa.

By Raúl Massingue