Maputo, 18 Jan (AIM) – Mozambican President Daniel Chapo on Saturday swore into office members of his new government, warning them that the current political and economic situation “demands from all of us a different way of approaching governance in order to obtain different results”.
Those “different results” were what the Mozambican people expected, he said, and would reverse the deterioration in living conditions.
The adverse phenomena facing the country “should be regarded as a test to our capacity to meet challenges, our resilience and our unity as a people”, said Chapo. “But we believe firmly that our nation is stronger than any challenge that it may face”.
“Our people”, he said, “are calling out for better justice, peace, security, political and economic stability, and a better distribution of wealth, particularly for young people”.
The country expects results from the new government, he said, and, thanks to the impact of social media, “your actions are under great and immediate scrutiny”.
Government members, he added, must always be ready to respond to requests from citizens. “Your actions should contribute to social harmony”, he said, “in which dialogue prevails at all levels”.
Chapo warned the new ministers “you cannot transport the vices of the past into this new stage”. The time of “lethargy, excessive red tape, nepotism, boot-licking, corruption and other evils must be killed, burnt and buried”, he insisted.
Corruption is a disease that corrodes the fabric of the state, said the President, and the new ministers should be on the front line of the fight against the abuse of public assets, the payment of people who do not exist (“ghost workers”), phoney tenders held to favour friends and relatives, and “the cartels who enrich themselves at the cost of the people’s suffering”.
Chapo wanted his ministers to show “integrity, dynamism and creativity”. Their plans for the first 100 days of governance should prioritise actions that will make a difference to the lives of the Mozambican people.
He urged the ministers to be tolerant and to consider “the opinions of all Mozambicans, regardless of their political inclinations, because we are all necessary for carrying out the dream of attaining the economic independence of Mozambique”.
But if anyone felt they were not able to make the sacrifices required of them, he warned, “they had better abandon the ship now rather than stain a team that is prepared to make history for the good of all Mozambicans”.
(AIM)
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