“Problems can only be solved if we live in peace” – Guebuza

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“Problems can only be solved if we live in peace” – Guebuza

11:27 CAT | 05 Oct 2017

Folha de Maputo (File photo) / Former president Armando Guebuza

Former president Armando Guebuza has underlined the importance of cementing the foundations of peace so that differences of opinion can be easily debated.

Guebuza was speaking yesterday at the Mozambican Heroes Square in Maputo during activities commemorating the 25th anniversary of the General Peace Agreement signed in Rome, Italy, that ended the bloody and brutal armed conflict which cost thousands of human lives and destroyed the socio-economic fabric of the country.

“The problems that we have exist and will continue to exist, but can only be solved if we live in peace, where our freedom can grow,” Guebuza said, pointing out as the biggest problem the conversion of the temporary truce into a lasting forever where differences between brothers can be debated without fear.

Asked at the occasion about the pessimism expressed in some circles about the recent visit of President Nyusi to Gorongosa to meet Renamo leader Afonso Dhlakama, the former president said it was completely wrong to deny the benefits that Mozambicans were now enjoying.

The indefinite truce was the result of contacts between the head of state and the leader of Renamo, and the trip to Gorongosa was, according to Guebuza, another step in the process that will culminate in effective and lasting peace.

Guebuza, a figure in the negotiation process that ended in the General Peace Agreement, recalled that in 1992 there was a truce but in specific corridors, but this time it was throughout the national territory, a positive achievement that should not be underestimated.

“Let us leave the critics, we do not know whether they are patriots, whether they are concerned about the well-being of their uncles at home, their cousins, with people travelling in the country, just as the overwhelming majority of the Mozambican people are concerned” the former president said.

According to Guebuza, the criticism can be discounted because, often enough, it came from outside the country and not from Mozambicans, but when there are deaths, it is the lives of fellow citizens that are lost.

Regarding discussions between Nyusi and Dhlakama, the former president said he thought any failures in the understanding achieved so far was only natural, but stressed that he believed that everyone was aware of the agreement’s importance, and the proof of this was the freedom of movement being enjoyed throughout the national territory, and all efforts leading to this current understanding must be encouraged.

Source: Folha de Maputo