Nyusi calls on young people to show more solidarity

Maputo, 7 May (AIM) – Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi has called on young people to show more solidarity with victims of the terrorism that has been plaguing the northern province of Cabo Delgado since October 2017.

According to Nyusi, who was speaking on Monday, in the northern province of Nampula, during the opening ceremony of the 15th School Games, which are taking place under the slogan: “Inclusive School sports, preserving biodiversity”, the macabre acts perpetrated by terrorists in Cabo Delgado have affected the development of school activities.

The President told the ceremony that Islamist terrorism only slows down the socio-economic development of Cabo Delgado, as well as exacerbating the suffering of the people.

“Terrorists burn and destroy schools, destroy houses, separate families, separate children from their parents, kill students and teachers, kill the population, the boys and girls who become nomads, without fixed accommodation, which makes school activity difficult”, he said.

Young people, he said, “must condemn these acts, showing solidarity with our brothers and sisters”.

He urged students to reject enticements to join the terrorist groups, “and we must discourage our friends, brothers and sisters from giving in to temptation”.

Nyusi considered the school games to be an opportunity to promote national unity and peace in the country. He challenged sports leaders to give an opportunity to the pupils so that they can be included in the national teams and represent the country.

For her part, the Education Minister, Carmelita Namashulua, said that the holding of the school games represents the restart of another cycle after a 20-year interruption.

“Twenty years ago, we had a festival here and today we are restarting the rotation”, she said.

A representative of the athletes called on the government to continue creating the conditions for all schools in the country to have adequate facilities for physical education.

The school games, which run from 6 to 16 May, bring together around 1,430 pupils aged between 11 and 16, in the disciplines of eleven-a-side football, athletics, chess, indoor volleyball, gymnastics, handball, basketball and traditional games.

(AIM)

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