Mozambique: Peace agreements alone not enough, says Nyusi – AIM report

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Mozambique: Peace agreements alone not enough, says Nyusi – AIM report

7:59 CAT | 03 Oct 2019

Photo: Domingo

On their own, peace agreements are not sufficient to ensure that peace will indeed be maintained, warned Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi on Tuesday.

Speaking at an election rally in Xai-Xai, capital of the southern province of Gaza, Nyusi said that every Mozambican should contribute to the peace, instead of assuming that a written agreement is enough.

He said that throughout his term of office, which began in January 2015, he had worked for peace and national reconciliation, culminating in the agreement he had signed on August with Ossufo Momade, leader of the former rebel movement Renamo.

But the agreement cannot cover a second conflict that has erupted in the far north. “We are under attack in Cabo Delgado province”, said Nyusi.

Since October 2017,insurgents inspired by islamic fundamentalism, have been launching terrorist raids in several districts in the north of the province. The death toll from these attacks is now believed to run to about 300. Nyusi described the perpetrators of the atrocities in Cabo Delgado as “faceless” – none of their leaders have come forwards, and there is no list of demands made by the insurgents.

Speaking specifically of Gaza, Nyusi stressed that the province had made huge leaps in agricultural production and productivity, particularly in rice, thanks to the policies followed by the ruling Frelimo Party

“We have gone from 1.5 tonnes of rice per hectare to about seven tonnes. This means increased revenue for the families that produce this crop”, he said. He also stressed Gaza’s potential for producing cash crops such as cashew nuts, and for livestock production.

Nyusi said that, although many challenges still remain, successive Frelimo governments since independence in 1975 have chalked up successes.

He recalled that, in 1975, children who wished to complete their secondary education had to move to Maputo, and attend one of a limited number of large secondary schools in the capital.

But now, he declared, “all the districts in Mozambique have secondary schools”.

Source: AIM