
Pemba (Mozambique), 1 Oct (AIM) – Daniel Chapo, the presidential candidate of Mozambique’s ruling Frelimo Party, on Monday promised that, if elected, he will use all possible means to end the terrorism that has plaguing parts of the northern province of Cabo Delgado since 2017.
Speaking at an election rally in the Cabo Delgado provincial capital, Pemba, Chapo said, if the country is to follow the path of development, the top priority is to end jihadist terrorism and return Cabo Delgado to peace. This, he stressed, is the “sine qua non” for major development projects.
Chapo added that, just as the country freed itself from colonial rule, and just as the war of destabilization and the raids carried out by the self-styled “Renamo Military Junta”, came to an end, so terrorism will also be finished.
He said the first objective of his governance “will be to do away with terrorism, using all available means to bring back peace. Peace is the condition for development. Without peace, there is no way for Cabo Delgado to develop”.
Peace would allow “the rebuilding of the province, particularly in the districts where the insurgency has destroyed infrastructures. With peace, we shall rebuild the roads, the schools, the hospitals and other essential facilities”.
Cabo Delgado is rich in hydrocarbons and other mineral resources, and Chapo promised to use the revenue from these resources to improve the lives of the people living in the region.
“We want the wealth of this province to be felt by its people”, he said.
In the central city of Chimoio, Ossufo Momade, the leader and presidential candidate of the main opposition party, Renamo, promised that, if elected, we would scrap the post of provincial secretary of state (which would require a constitutional amendment).
“We will instruct our deputies in the Assembly of the Republic (the Mozambican parliament) to revise the Constitution, so that we no longer have the post of provincial Secretary of State”, declared Momade, cited by the independent television station, STV.
He claimed that the Secretary of State and the Provincial Governor “do almost the same thing, and we want to change this”.
Momade also promised to revive the industries that once existed in Chimoio, notably the giant textile factory, Textafrica.
Chapo has also spoken of resurrecting Textafrica. But it closed more than 20 years ago. The factory is a shell, and after it stopped production, all its remaining assets were handed over to Millennium-BIM, the country’s largest commercial bank, as a guarantee on a bank loan.
Neither Frelimo nor Renamo have suggested who might be interested in rebuilding an enormous textile factory in Chimoio.
(AIM)
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