Mozambique: Nyusi pledges to do all to defeat terrorists – AIM report

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Mozambique: Nyusi pledges to do all to defeat terrorists – AIM report

9:20 CAT | 25 Sep 2019

Photo: O País

Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi pledged on Wednesday that his government will do all in its power to combat the insurgents who have been committing acts of terrorism in the northern province of Cabo Delgado since October 2017.

Speaking during the celebrations in Maputo of the 55th anniversary of the launching, on 25 September 1964, of the armed liberation struggle to free Mozambique from Portuguese colonial rule, Nyusi said “We are doing everything to find rapid and efficient solutions to dismantle the foci of violence which are threatening the lives and welfare of our citizens, so that we can attain definitive peace”.

“It’s very clear that we are the victims of a disguised invasion, of barbaric acts committed by faceless people, who murder, loot the possessions of the people, and incite disobedience of the government authorities”, he declared.

Nyusi warned that, on its own, the work of the government will not be enough to combat the insurgents, and he urged all forces in Mozambican society to remain vigilant and to participate actively in defending the country and its territorial integrity.

He also stressed the anti-foreigner attacks in South Africa which earlier this month drove about 500 Mozambican migrants out of their homes. He said that, when he was in Harare attending the funeral of former Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, he took the opportunity to meet with his South African counterpart Cyril Ramaphosa.

He said the two Presidents condemned the xenophobic violence committed by some South Africans against citizens from other southern African countries, and guaranteed that they would remain in contact to ensure continuing harmony between Mozambique and South Africa.

Nyusi urged Mozambicans to remain calm, and not to retaliate against South Africans living or working in Mozambique.

The President also took the opportunity to urge all those involved in the current election campaign to refrain from any acts which disturb public order and tranquillity, and to ensure a massive turnout at the polling stations on election day, 15 October.

Image result for monumento 25 setembro nyusi — *Photo: Domingo*

For his part, Defence Minister Atanasio M’tumuke guaranteed that Mozambique is able to combat the Cabo Delgado insurgency. The support it needed from other countries was information that would allow the Mozambican armed forces (FADM) to improve their capacity to fight the terrorist groups.

Drawing lessons from the liberation struggle, M’tumuke told reporters “the liberators of this country succeeded in defeating a well-equipped army, and so it will not be this group that beats us”.

During the celebrations, Nyusi inaugurated a monument to the fighters of the national liberation struggle, built over the past four years in Praca dos Combatentes (Combatants’ Square), in the Maputo neighbourhood of Xiquelene. The monument cost the Mozambican state 54 million meticais (about 880,000 US dollars).

The monument and its accompanying museum, he said, “is a place to praise and preserve our history, and the memory of those who lost their lives in the struggle for Mozambican independence”.

“This is not just a monument”, he added, “it is a place where we can meet up with our recent past, and seek out the roots and the reasons that we are what we are today”.

On the outside of the monument are plaques contained the names of 3,256 fighters who died during the liberation struggle, between 1964 and 1974.

This list may not be complete, and Nyusi said research is under way to identify the names of other fighters who may have laid down their lives for the liberation of the country.