Watch: Guebuza says Mozambique’s sovereignty is “at stake” with armed attacks in the centre and north

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Watch: Guebuza says Mozambique’s sovereignty is “at stake” with armed attacks in the centre and north

2:31 CAT | 27 Aug 2020

Screen grab: Armando Emílio Guebuza / Facebook page

Former President of Mozambique Armando Guebuza said yesterday that the armed attacks in the central and northern regions of the country were jeopardising sovereignty, and called for national unity in the preserving of independence.

Armando Guebuza was the key speaker in a video-conference entitled “The Life and Work of Eduardo Mondlane: The Role of Young People in the Preservation and Appreciation of Eduardo Mondlane’s ideals”.

“The actions in Cabo Delgado [northern Mozambique] and the actions of Mariano Nhongo [dissident Renamo general] in the centre of the country jeopardise national sovereignty,” Guebuza said.

Alongside the armed conflicts, the discourse of doubt and division surrounding national unity also threatened the country’s sovereignty, he added.

“Voices appear to doubt [national unity]. This is the challenge we face, but we have to believe that we will overcome the obstacles,” the former head of state stressed.

Speaking about the man considered the “architect of national unity”, Guebuza said the centrality that Eduardo Mondlane, founder of the ruling Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo), attributed to national unity was decisive in the achievement of independence in 1975.

The former president challenged Mozambicans to attribute to national unity the centrality that Catholics place in the Lord’s Prayer.

“National unity must be a daily cause, as the ‘Our Father’ is for Catholics. We must never tire of it,” he said.

Guebuza pointed out that the founder of Frelimo had the ability to bring together different communities from the territory then dominated by Portuguese colonialism in the cause of national independence, achieved in 1975.

“What I saw in Eduardo Mondlane was a great work: national unity. The differences don’t end, but unity prevailed,” he underlined.

Armando Guebuza urged Mozambican youth to love their country and affirm the ideals of Mozambicanity in the face of the risk of national values being absorbed by globalisation.

“May globalisation not absorb us, but may we assimilate those aspects of globalisation which strengthen us as Mozambicans,” he urged.

Armando Guebuza was President of Mozambique between 2005 and 2015, and a historical figure within Frelimo, the ruling party, for which he held fulfilled several roles in government.

Eduardo Mondlane was Frelimo’s first president, since 1962, when the organisation was founded to co-ordinate the armed struggle for national liberation against Portuguese colonial rule.

Source: Lusa / Armando Emílio Guebuza / Facebook page