
Candidato presidencial do partido PODEMOS, Venâncio Mondlane, faz um showmicio no bairro Malhampsene na Província de Maputo no âmbito da abertura da campanha eleitoral 2024 . Foto de Santos Vilanculos
Maputo, 26 Aug (AIM) – Venancio Mondlane, the independent candidate in Mozambique’s presidential election scheduled for 9 October, has promised that, if elected, he will, within a year, end the wave of kidnappings that have plagued Mozambican cities since 2011.
Speaking at the Malhapsene market, in the southern municipality of Matola, he insisted it would be possible to end the kidnappings within a year.
“We can do away with the kidnappings. It’s just a matter of calling on Interpol to help us fight the kidnappings”, said Mondlane “We shall call upon the countries who have experienced these crimes and fought against them”.
He stressed the damaging effect the kidnappings were having on the Mozambican economy with businessmen and potential investors fleeing from the country for fear of being abducted.
Despite police denials, Mondlane insisted that a plain clothes police officer had attempted to assassinate him on 18 August in Zavala district in the southern province of Inhambane. The man had been seized and found to be carrying a 9 mm pistol with 15 bullets.
Mondlane promised that, should he be elected, he would provide “accessible opportunities in an equitable manner” for all Mozambicans.
The slogan “this country is ours”, he said, means “we want a country where there are opportunities and potential, and where the existing wealth is accessible equitably for all”.
He noted that Matola contains the largest industrial park in the country, and this “should be reflected in the quality of life of the population”.
Mondlane wanted to see “fiscal decentralisation”, whereby the benefits of taxation, of the taxes collected from this great industrial park, must benefit the development plans of Matola and of Maputo province.
That development, he added, must include the training of young Mozambicans, so that they could fill the posts of skilled workers in Matola industries, many of which are currently occupied by foreigners.
(AIM)
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