Nyusi again urges Renamo to disarm

Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi

Speaking at a closing session of a meeting of the Central Committee of the ruling Frelimo Party, held in the southern city of Matola, Nyusi called on Renamo “to cease immediately the destruction of our country, and the killing of our people”.

The Central Committee, he said, unanimously condemned Renamo’s use of violence against civilian targets “as a strategy to create instability and to attain power”. Renamo was also trying to create in public opinion the perception that everything going wrong is the fault of Frelimo.

Despite this, Nyusi insisted that Frelimo “will continue tirelessly to maintain the spirit of dialogue which has always characterized us”. This dialogue, however, would not be restricted to the government and Renamo, but would be extended “to the other live forces in Mozambican society, namely political parties, religious bodies, women’s and youth organisations, artists and other social groups”.

He pledged that “Frelimo and its government will continue to make efforts to achieve peace and harmony among the Mozambican family. We are convinced that dialogue is the most appropriate and correct way to solve difference among Mozambicans”.

Nyusi insisted on the need for discipline within Frelimo, and for firm measures to discourage corruption. He said the Central Committee had noted “acts of corruption in our society, which sometimes involve our Comrades”.

The Central Committee had thus mandated the Frelimo Political Commission to draw up an anti-corruption directive “which will regulate the conduct of party members at all levels”.

Turning to the Mozambican economy, Nyusi said it was suffering from “a weak productive base, structural problems with the trade balance, a level of consumption higher than our capacity to produce, a reduction in the sources of finance and a delay in the promised disbursements, an increase in foreign debt, floods and drought, and the decline in world prices for our main export products”.

The Central Committee, he said, has instructed the government to rationalize public expenditure, and to improve its quality and efficiency, in order “to broaden and diversity the productive base and increase productivity, in order to ensure the sustainable economic development of the country”.

“The construction of a strong, prosperous and peaceful nation is a task for each and every one of us”, declared Nyusi.