Militares das FADM. Foto de Ferhat Momade
Maputo, 12 Jul (AIM) – Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi on Thursday demanded discipline from the defence and security forces.
Speaking in Maputo, at the opening of a meeting of the Coordinating Council of the Ministry of Defence, he said “when an army is formed by disciplined and conscious citizens, its relevance increases and it allows cohesion and a sense of mission in defence of the interests of the nation and of the people, and not of personal interests and groups of individuals”.
“That is why the people are proud to have a defence sector that promotes a single purpose, and remains firmly on the side of those whom it serves”, Nyusi declared.
He stressed that the Mozambican Armed Forces (FADM) must accompany technological developments, with a view to its own professionalization and modernization, “so that it is able to respond to the challenges that threaten global security”.
“It’s been shown that in the world it is the defence sector that has evolved most in terms of science”, he claimed. “So we cannot remain stagnant. We have to be in the forefront. Our house cannot be the last”.
Threats, he added, are expressed in a dynamic way, with changes and metamorphoses that challenge the analytical capacity of specialists in information and communication technologies.
It was already clear, Nyusi said, that terrorism can only be defeated with the union and cohesion of all Mozambicans, including civil society, the media, the academic world and religious bodies.
“Everybody should form a single bloc and a single work force, for these are the premises for defending the country against any threats”, he added.
Terrorism and violent extremism in Mozambique, Nyusi continued, are proof that the current threats have no political boundaries, and surpass state borders.
In conflicts of the past, he claimed, “we knew where to go, but these ones don’t have any borders, we don’t know where they come from, who is giving them commands and finance, or where they are trained”.
This reality, Nyusi said, imposes added challenges to the defence sector. These should “seek to improve its capacity for assessment and analysis, as well as mechanisms to respond to the hybrid and dynamic nature of these risks, and the threats to the security and integrity of the country”.
The threats posed by islamist terrorism in the northern province of Cabo Delgado could lead to postponement in parts of that province of the general elections scheduled for 9 October.
Cited in Friday’s issue of the independent newsheet “Mediafax”, the spokesperson for the National Elections Commission (CNE), Paulo Cuinica, said voting could only be held in places previously authorized by the defence and security forces.
The election staff, he said, would be placed in Cabo Delgado polling stations in close coordination with the defence forces, as had happened earlier in the year, during the voter registration.
“In Cabo Delgado, we shall operate within the conditions created at the time”, Cuinica added. “The Cabo Delgado situation does not depend on the electoral bodies, but on the defence and security forces. Insofar as the conditions are created, we shall hold the elections.
Not surprisingly, given the security constraints, few people have volunteered to become polling station staff (MMVs) in Cabo Delgado. Cuinica could only say that the Electoral Administration Technical Secretariat “is working on the matter”.
(AIM)
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