President criticises Maputo bias in Peace Fund projects

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President criticises Maputo bias in Peace Fund projects

7:01 CAT | 17 Aug 2017

O País

Speaking on the morning of September 5, 2014, after signing the agreement for the cessation of military hostilities with the Renamo leader, then head of state Armando Guebuza elicited applause and praise from the public when he announced the creation of the National Peace and Reconciliation Fund.

With the mission of financing projects and developing entrepreneurial initiatives for war veterans and combatants, the fund only started releasing money in 2015. Since then, 436,191,437.05 meticais have been disbursed financing 1,772 projects for veterans of the national liberation struggle and combatants in defence of sovereignty and democracy – expressions used to designate the Renamo guerrillas and government forces who confronted each other during the 16-year war. In the same period, beneficiaries have repaid only 46,273,537.94 meticais, about 32 percent of the total disbursed.

However, it is not the low level of reimbursement that concerns President Nyusi, but the concentration of financed projects in the city and province of Maputo. “I feel that the distribution of funded projects is not proportional, and truly it is not” he says. In Maputo province, 405 projects were financed, and in Maputo city, 366. That is nearly half of the total. “But most veterans and combatants are not concentrated in this province. It would be good to fund in a rational and balanced way, to see the fund actually reaches the real combatant,” the president said.

And the appeal makes sense, especially when you compare the number of veterans and combatants registered in the province and city of Maputo with those in Cabo Delgado. There are 45,253 veterans and demobilised (almost half of the 92,092 registered nationwide) in the province that saw the start of the armed struggle for independence, against the 19,359 veterans and demobilised in the two southernmost provinces.

From 1986 to June 2017, 169,932 personnel were registered, of whom 92,029 were veterans of the struggle for independence and 77,840 demobilised. Inhambane (263) and Gaza (357 provinces have the lowest number of veterans, the same for the demobilised.

160,706 combatants’ pensions

The Ministry of Combatants (MICO) is responsible for registering the combatants, but it is up to the Ministry of Finance to set the level of their pensions. From 1986 to the first half of this year, 160,706 pensions were set up out of a total of 169,932 registered veterans and combatants, including participation bonuses for independence struggle veterans and social reintegration bonuses. In the same period, 13,264 survivors’ pensions were granted following the death of 17,851 veterans and combatants.

Under the current mandate, 1,426 children of veterans and demobilised forces received scholarships to tertiary education within the country and 34,512 were exempt from paying enrolment for general secondary education.

Source: O País