Maputo, 2 Sep (AIM) – Venancio Mondlane, the independent candidate in Mozambique’s presidential election scheduled for 9 October, has promised that, if elected, he will create a single statute for those who fought in the national liberation struggle against Portuguese colonial rule and those who fought during the 16 year war pitting the government’s forces against the Renamo rebels.
Speaking on Sunday, in Morrumbala district, in the central province of Zambézia, Mondlane said that his government will create a single statute for combatants “whether they are from the liberation struggle, the struggle for democracy or the young people who are now fighting against Islamist terrorists in Cabo Delgado.”
“They will all be considered combatants in the same way”, he promised “The statue of combatants’ will open space for that. There will be no exclusion”.
Cited in Monday’s issue of the independent daily “O Pais”, Mondlane also promised to create conditions so that the Mozambican state may grant scholarships to the children of combatants in order to compensate for the efforts that their parents undertook on behalf of the Mozambican state.
“I also want to guarantee that all of them will be given scholarships by the state so that they do not have to pay anything at school”, he said. “We also want to train former combatants so that they have other sources of income that are secure”.
According to Mondlane, in addition to creating scholarships for combatants’ children, job creation for young people is at the top of his agenda.
He also said that in any government he leads, schools and health services will not be forced to close in order to receive a party’s president. (He was referring to the current situation, in which, whenever the head of state visits a district, public services grind to a halt).
Mondlane said that the country’s resources must benefit the population. “The gold, diamonds and gas must benefit us, we must feel their benefits on our plates in the morning. We want to see riches for lunch, dinner and every day of our lives”, he said.
(AIM)
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