Mozambique: Nyusi calls on government forces to restore order in Manica and Sofala – AIM report

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Mozambique: Nyusi calls on government forces to restore order in Manica and Sofala – AIM report

9:42 CAT | 08 Jun 2020

Photo: TVM

Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi on Friday urged the defence and security forces to restore order in the central provinces of Manica and Sofala which have suffered recurrent attacks by the self-styled “Renamo Military Junta”.

The Junta is a breakaway from the main opposition party, Renamo, and rejects the peace agreement signed in August 2019 between Nyusi and Renamo leader Ossufo Momade. It has staged a series of lethal ambushes against vehicles using the main roads through Manica and Sofala.

Nyusi made a surprise visit on Friday to military units in the Manica administrative post of Amatongas. He drove overland from Sofala where he and Momade had witnessed the resumption of the demobilisation and disarming of the Renamo militia.

In Amatongas, he urged the defence forces to continue defending the population and its property from attacks by the junta.

“You must remain firm, committed and with high morale”, he insisted. “We need to restore order in this area so that the country can develop. You must rapidly restore calm in this central theatre of operations”.

He assured his audience that the government is surveying the conditions in which each member of the defence and security forces lives, in order to improve them. “We are with you, and we are in solidarity with you”, he declared.

Nyusi also briefed the forces in Amatongas on the situation in the second war zone – the northern operational theatre. This term refers to parts of Cabo Delgado province, ravaged by terrorist groups inspired by Islamic fundamentalism.

“I went to see the situation in the northern theatre, and it is evolving”, he said. “In recent days the enemy has suffered many losses. We expect to see the same courage in this areas”.

Nyusi reminded the defence and security force that their task is not merely military. They must also undertake humanitarian activities, bearing in mind the current context of the Covid-19 pandemic. At any time the defence forces may be called upon to play a key role in the fight against the pandemic.

“We are living through a difficult moment”, said Nyusi. “Your colleagues in the towns and villages are engaged in ensuring compliance with the measures of Covid-19 prevention, decreed under the state of emergency”.

Nyusi’s two appearances, in Sofala and Manica, send a clear message to the Military Junta. Their members are welcome to join the Renamo mainstream in demobilisation and handing over their weapons. But if they choose not to do so, the defence and security forces will fight to defeat them and to restore order.

Source: AIM