Africa-Press – Mozambique. Mozambican President Daniel Chapo on Monday declared that the country is facing new security challenges, including terrorism, cybercrime, drug trafficking and trafficking in people, money laundering, and the effects of climate change.
Speaking at a graduation ceremony in the Samora Machel Military Academy, in the northern city of Nampula, Chapo said these challenges “demand smart responses, based on science, but also firm responses resting on our national defence”.
“It is imperative to guarantee the permanent readiness of the Armed Forces so that they can respond, both to conventional military scenarios and to non-military threats, always with careful and responsible management of our public resources”, said the President.
“We want a strong, professional and effective defence sector, capable of ensuring the security stability of the Mozambican state, creating the political conditions necessary for laying the foundations of our economic independence”, Chapo declared.
The graduates from the officers’ course, he stressed, will now have the added responsibility of defending the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Mozambique. This would require them to act with professionalism, responsibility, competence, courage and ethics.
Chapo urged the graduates to draw inspiration from the country’s military history, and the legacy of the generation who had fought for Mozambican independence.
Chapo also stressed that the graduates must “strictly respect international human rights conventions”, and cultivate healthy relations with the public.
Chapo hoped that the new graduates “will influence positively the battle against terrorism”, in the northern provinces of Cabo Delgado, Nampula and Niassa.
