Mozambique: Oldemiro Baloi posthumously awarded Equatorial Guinea’s highest honour

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Mozambique: Oldemiro Baloi posthumously awarded Equatorial Guinea’s highest honour

3:22 CAT | 02 Aug 2024

Photo: O País

Former Mozambican Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Oldemiro Baloi, who passed away in April 2021, was honoured posthumously by Equatorial Guinea, in recognition of his role in the country’s accession to the CPLP. Former Executive Secretary of the CPLP, Murade Muragy, was also honoured.

Equatorial Guinea awarded Baloi the Comendador Medal, the country’s highest award, at a time when it is celebrating 10 years since their country was admitted to the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (CPLP).

Because the process was long, Oldemiro Baloi played a crucial role, former Executive Secretary of the CPLP Murade Muragy explained.

“I proposed that an Extraordinary Council of Ministers be held in February, 2014, to deal specifically with the accession of Equatorial Guinea. It was there that Minister Baloi played an extraordinary role, leading the meeting in such a way that it concluded with the Council of Ministers recommending that Guinea join the CPLP,” Murargy said.

This has since facilitated exchanges between Equatorial Guinea and CPLP countries recognising the role of Oldemiro Baloi, it being decided to pay tribute to him posthumously.

Baloi and Muragy were awarded the Comendador Medal, the country’s highest award in the order of Equatorial Guinean independence.

For the family, this is recognition not only of Oldemiro Baloi as a person, but also of Mozambican diplomacy.

“It was a pleasant surprise for us, as he was being remembered for the work he did 10 years ago, and it is moving to realise that even after his death there are countries that still remember him and his achievements and the impact they had on those countries,” said his son, Edgar Baloi.

Tomás Salomão, a friend of Oldemiro Baloi for over 50 years, says that the tribute was well-deserved, describing the former minister as someone who always did his job excellently.

Oldemiro Baloi was Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Mozambique for almost 10 years, between 2008 and 2027. He died, of an illness, in 2021.

Source: O País