Mozambique: No province ‘immune’ to rebels; fight is ‘a priority’ – president

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Mozambique: No province ‘immune’ to rebels; fight is ‘a priority’ – president

10:46 CAT | 23 Jan 2023

From left to right: Stefan Dick Kassotche Mphiri, newly sworn in Secretary of State for Manica province; Lina Maria da Silva Portugal, newly sworn in Secretary of State for Niassa province; President Filipe Nyusi; Jaime Bessa Augusto Neto, newly sworn in Secretary of State for Nampula province; Judith Emília Leite Mussacula Faria, newly sworn in Secretary of State for Maputo province; Cristina de Jesus Xavier Mafumo, newly sworn in Secretary of State for Zambézia province. [Screen grab: TVM]

Mozambique’s president, Filipe Nyusi, warned on Monday that no province in the country “is immune” to attacks by “terrorists” and identified the prevention of and fight against armed groups as a priority.

“Terrorist actions can occur anywhere in the national territory,” he said. “No province can feel immune.”

The head of state, who was speaking at the inauguration ceremony for the new Deputy Health Minister, Ilesh Jani, and five new Secretaries of State [for Manica, Zambézia, Niassa, Nampula and Maputo provinces], said that even provinces that escape attacks by armed groups may be the scene of recruitment of members or sources of funding.

With that in mind, Nyusi said, the priority of local leaders should be to prevent and combat terrorism, since violence undermines the well-being of the population and constitutes a major obstacle to development.

Nyusi called on the officials now taking up their new positions to bolster the implementation of programmes to combat poverty and develop the country.

READ: Nyusi renews political representation in main constituencies of Mozambique – A Verdade

The province of Cabo Delgado, in northern Mozambique, has been plagued by an armed insurgency for five years now, with responsibility for some attacks claimed by a local affiliate of the extremist group Islamic State.

Since July 2021, a military response to the insurgency, with support from Rwanda and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), has succeeded in liberating districts near natural gas projects. But new waves of attacks have emerged to the south of the region and in neighbouring Nampula province.

The conflict has left around 1 million people displaced, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and about 4,000 dead, according to the ACLED conflict registration project.