Reactions to Valentina Guebuza Murder – Shock and condemnation – Noticias

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

Reactions to Valentina Guebuza Murder – Shock and condemnation – Noticias

1:50 CAT | 16 Dec 2016

Noticias (File photo detail)

Valentina Guebuza lost her life at one of the capital’s health facilities, where she was transported after being struck by four pistol shots. The Police say they found four bullet shells at the couple’s residence, the scene of the crime, matching the number of injuries sustained by the victim.

Zófimo Muiuane, the alleged perpetrator, is in police custody. Police say he was unable to present a firearms license at his first interrogation.

He is quoted by a PRM spokesman as saying that the crime was a result of the tense environment that characterised the daily life of the couple, who were married inJuly 2014. This version is however contradicted by some close to the couple, who say that Muiuane’s behaviour never suggested any problems in the relationship.

Police have denied information circulating on social networks that Muiuane committed suicide in the police facility he was taken to after allegedly killing his wife.

Many people have told Noticias that this crime is a further indication that domestic violence characterises the lives of many families in Mozambique.

From early yesterday, politicians, businessmen, friends and family have been visiting the Guebuza family home to express their condolences.

Zófimo Muiuane does not have a gun license

The spouse of the deceased, Zófimo Muiuane, who has been charged by the police, did not have a Mozambique firearms license. He said that he acquired the weapon in neighbouring South Africa, without specifying the reasons for the purchase.

Maputo PRM spokesman Orlando Mudumane did not describe the circumstances of the events, saying only that events unfolded from an argument between the couple.

“When he was required to register the gun, but did not do so., He was therefore in illegal possession of a firearm,” Mudumane concluded.

Muiuane, 43, is being held at one of the police stations in Maputo, waiting for his arrest to be confirmed by the investigating judge in the next few days.

We never had signs of social problems

“He never indicated that he had relationship problems,” Ananias Coana, president of the Mozambican Football League, of which Zófimo Muiuane is deputy chairman for Marketing and Image, said.

Coana says he knew Zófimo as a calm person who always tries to be with the family. “Whenever we had meetings in the League, after an hour or an hour and a half he was worried about going home to be with his family. He didn’t even like to travel outside of Maputo. The only time he left on a League mission was to Songo, in Tete, for the opening of the Moçambola, but the day after, the day of the game, he tried to return to Maputo. Which means he was very family-oriented.”

Coana says he received a message from Zófimo informing him that he would be away and that he would back in Maputo on the 11th. “On Tuesday, the day of the League meeting, I tried to get in touch with him, but I couldn’t reach him.”

MCel laments the death

The mobile company mCel, where the suspect had worked at for eight years and was head of marketing, issued a statement regretting that a crime such as this had taken the life of the daughter of the former head of state, but beyond that said that it preferred not to comment for the time being.

Families ask for privacy

The Guebuza and Muiuane families are choosing not to make statements to the media for the time being, saying that they are still in deep shock and asking for privacy and the understanding of all in the current situation.

The Noticias reporter heading to the Guebuza family home in Maputo yesterday to ask the family about the circumstances in which the incident occurred describes the atmosphere as one of consternation.

National and foreign personalities have visited the home of the former president of the Republic to lend their support to the bereaved family.

Godfather shocked

Valentina Guebuza’s godfather Feliciano Gundana told Notícias that he had received the news of her murder with great surprise.

“It’s shocking news that I never expected to hear. We are dismayed and almost speechless. It is tragic,” he said.

Gundana was unwilling to dwell on what happened, saying he needed more time for the news to sink in.

Frelimo solidarity

The Frelimo political party has expressed its condolences with the Guebuza family on the death of their daughter, condemning the crime and appealing to the institutions of justice to investigate speedily and hold the perpetrators accountable.

“We are deeply shocked and dismayed by this news. Comrade Valentina Guebuza was a member of Frelimo Central Committee and Maputo City Committee and we worked with her just recently. Her characteristic style was an active, cheerful young lady committed to the national cause,” said António Niquice, secretary of the Central Committee for Organisation, Mobilisation and Propaganda and spokesperson to Frelimo.

According to Niquice, Valentina Guebuza, in the prime of her youth, still had much to give not only to the party, but also to the country. “It seems that this was a crime of passion, but we believe that judicial institutions are better placed to investigate. At this moment we appeal to our members and sympathisers to comfort the family of Comrade Armando Guebuza, former president of Frelimo and former head of state,” he added.

He said the party was aware that “words are enough to comfort the family. We are all in a state of shock, especially since we have had no sign that would indicate this macabre end to our comrade and fellow-combatant’s life. We offer our shoulder to the bereaved family, and we will continue to fight for progress in Mozambique, just as Valentina Guebuza always did.”

ACLLN lost a member

Reacting to the death, National Liberation Struggle Combatants Association Secretary General Fernando Faustino said that all combatants in the national liberation struggle wished to convey their fraternal warmth to Armando Guebuza, his wife Maria da Luz Guebuza, the children and the entire Guebuza family, to help them overcome their pain.

“We have lost a comrade, a combatant, a fighting partner; we have lost a humble and combatative young woman,” Faustino said.

A psychologist’s viewpoint

According to police reports, the death of Valentina Guebuza is another act of domestic violence that sadly ended in tragedy.

So says clinical psychologist Hachimo Chagane, stating however that he would need more information to pronounce on what actually happened.

“On the facts, it is not correct to say that this is a disorder or deviation. The human being, faced with something that leads to frustration and blockage of balance, tends to act instinctively to regain balance,” he said.

These events are recorded in the daily life of society, he notes, because man carries animal instincts within himself. In the present case, the repercussions are more due to the figures involved.

According to Chagane, there may also be a mismanagement of a long-standing problem or even a situation in which the accused was under the influence of psychoactive substances, such as alcohol or drugs, depriving him of his rationality.

“There was no rationality. Knowing the consequences of the act, conviction for a period ranging from 12 to 24 years, it does not appear that the accused was concerned about being deprived of his liberty. I do not think it is rational to carry out an act that from the outset one knows will be condemned by society,” said Hachimo Chagane.

When you reach a stage like this, he say, it means that there are problems whose solution would take a long time.

About Valentina Guebuza

The deceased had married Zófimo Muiuane in July 2014, in a ceremony that took place in the city of Maputo, and from the relation was generated a child that is currently little more than a year.

Daughter of Armando Gebuza and Maria da Luz, the deceased was graduated in Civil Engineering in South Africa, where he began to work in consulting in the same area. He started his business in 2001 through Focus 21: Gestão e Desenvolvimento, Limitada, developing activities in sectors such as telecommunications, transportation, banking, real estate, fisheries and mines.

In 2006 he became head of the firm, assuming the position of Chairman of the Board of Directors, at the same time that Focus 21 became a holding company.

In December 2013 Forbes magazine ranked her among the twenty most powerful African youth in the African Continent, highlighting the company’s activities in various areas of national economic life.

She was also Chairman of the Board of Directors of StarTimes Media, the result of a partnership between China’s StarTimes and Focus 21 for Digital Migration in the country.

Source: Noticias