Mozambique: President links the “blackmail of cyclical war” to “internal and external elites”

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Mozambique: President links the “blackmail of cyclical war” to “internal and external elites”

2:11 CAT | 02 Jun 2020

Photo: O País

President Filipe Nyusi of Mozambique blames “internal and external elites” for the armed violence in the country and calls for strengthening national unity to deal with attacks in Cabo Delgado. Amnesty calls on the government “to protect civilians”.

“Mozambicans will not repeatedly tolerate the blackmail of cyclical war, moved by groups of individuals manipulated to sustain the ego of internal and external elites,” President Filipe Nyusi of Mozambique said with reference to the armed attacks in the north of the country , in a speech launching the celebrations of the 45 years of independence this Monday (01-06).

“Mozambicans will never allow Mozambique to be divided to satisfy the interests of invaders of any origin and nature,” he said.

“The readjustment of our actions in the face of today’s challenges does not exempt us from the need to further strengthen national unity. We unconditionally defend peace and development,” the head of state stressed.

Nyusi called for a “strengthening of national unity” and considered it a priority “to defend peace and development unconditionally”, safeguarding the country “from the terrorist attacks in Cabo Delgado, the armed attacks in Manica and Sofala, and Covid-19”, a disease he classified as “the immediate enemy”.

Filipe Nyusi’s statements follow clashes between the Defence and Security Forces and terrorist groups in the northern province of Cabo Delgado, which have been intensifying since March.

On Sunday (31-05), Mozambique’s defence minister, Jaime Neto, announced the killing of 78 members of the armed groups, including two Tanzanian leaders, while provincial authorities announced that they had regained control of Macomia (town), a constant target of terrorists.

In the centre of the country, former Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo) guerrillas contesting the peace agreement signed in 2019 have already killed more than 20 people in attacks on villages and roads in the provinces of Manica and Sofala.

45th celebrations of Independence Day and the 100th anniversary of Eduardo Mondlane

On June 25, Mozambique celebrates 45 years of independence from Portuguese colonial rule, but this year’s celebrations will not be able to follow the usual pattern because of the Covid -19 state of emergency.

The programme, which will follow the applicable restrictions, will also include, on June 20, the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Eduardo Mondlane, one of the founders and first president of the Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (Frelimo), the party in power since independence.

Mondlane was murdered when he opened a letter-bomb in Dar-es-Salam, Tanzania, on February 3, 1969, a date marked annually as a holiday for the Day of Mozambican Heroes.

Amnesty urges government to “protect civilians”

Amnesty International called on Mozambican government troops to “protect civilians while carrying out operations against armed groups in Cabo Delgado”. In a statement, the human rights organization stresses that “security forces should not use operations to avenge attacks, targeting residents, but to ensure that the armed group is held responsible for crimes against international law and violations of human rights”.

According to Amnesty International’s director for Eastern and Southern Africa, Deprose Muchena, “the people of Cabo Delgado have been the victims of horrific violence”.

In an interview with DW Africa, journalist Luis Nhachote, coordinator of the Centre for Investigative Journalism in Mozambique, said that “Cabo Delgado is at war, and the province needs to be closed”.

“If we had the courage to change the Constitution to declare a state of emergency due to the pandemic, we can change this condition and declare a state of war in Cabo Delgado. The province needs to be closed, because it is a victim in the geopolitical context, in the global context, because of the resources it has. It is a war exported into Mozambique, because we have porous borders,” he says.

Source: Lusa / Deutsche Welle