Chapo calls for national reconciliation for sustainable development

Maputo, 25 Mar (AIM) – Mozambican President Daniel Chapo has called for mutual forgiveness and national reconciliation “so that the county may build paths for sustainable and integrated development.”

According to Chapo, who was speaking on Monday at a rally in Lichinga, capital of the northern province of Niassa, Mozambicans must remain united “and political ideologies should not be the reason for disorder in the country.”

“We must remain united. We must each work for peace and security. There must be reconciliation between us. There must be acts of forgiveness between us as brothers”, he said.

Chapo’s statement came after he held on Sunday a meeting with his main opposition rival, former presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane, in order to “promote national stability and strengthen the commitment to reconciliation and unity among Mozambicans”.

Chapo, like his predecessor Filipe Nyusi, has been holding a dialogue with opposition political parties, but up until Sunday this dialogue had excluded Mondlane, who is not a member of any party.

“The Political Commitment for an Inclusive National Dialogue, signed on 5 March, is only the beginning of a process that aims to involve all the living forces of Mozambican society and the population in general”, he said.

The president, who is on a four-day working visit to Niassa, explained that stability is crucial because it paves the way for the improvement of the social welfare of Mozambicans. “With stability, we will work to bring more water, more electricity, more roads, more schools, more hospitals, more medicines and much else”, he said.

He declared that since Mozambican independence in 1975, there have been massive improvements in areas ranging from literacy and adult education levels to the expansion of the electricity and drinking water networks.

“There are many achievements, so nobody can come along and say that for 50 years we haven’t done anything. When we became independent in 1975, 97 percent of the population couldn’t even read or write. It doesn’t make sense when Mozambicans claim that over the last 50 years there has been no development in infrastructure”, Chapo said.
(AIM)
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