Africa-Press – Mozambique. Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi on Wednesday promised that his government will “mobilise internal and external support” and accept any “genuinely offered” support in the fight against terrorism.
Speaking at the ceremony closing a basic police training course in the Matalane Practical Police School, just outside Maputo, Nyusi declared that the defence and security forces “will continue to fight bravely to protect their people, their property and the country’s economic projects”.
“So let’s not lose our focus”, he urged. “For the good of the people, we shall not yield to those who, with political hunger, want to draw us away from what is essential. The people are dying, and need our solution”.
Terrorism has been under way in Cabo Delgado since October 2017. “The terrorists have destroyed infrastructures, shops, banks, small and medium companies”, said Nyusi. “Terrorism has caused pain and suffering in many families who are calling for support from all of us”.
Alongside the fight against terrorism in the northern province of Cabo Delgado, he continued, there had been “a resurgence in organised crime by people motivated by greed for easy and illicit enrichment”.
He was particularly concerned at the renewed wave of kidnappings of business people “which are contributing to a climate of despair, uncertainty and insecurity, with a negative impact on the business environment and on private investment”.
Kidnappings could lead investors to flee the country, putting their money elsewhere, Nyusi said – echoing a warning that business associations themselves have been saying for years.
He urged the course graduates “to fight firmly against these heinous criminal acts the consequences of which affect not only the families of the victims and the business class, but also all Mozambicans, and the foreign citizens who have chosen to live and work in our country”.
Nyusi also urged all the relatives and friends of kidnap victims to come forward and assist the authorities in their investigations.
Some of the newly trained police agents will be sent to Cabo Delgado to join the fight against terrorism, while others will improve security in the central provinces where it is feared that some members of the self-styled “Renamo Military Junta” may still be active despite the death of their leader, Mariano Nhongo.
Other course graduates should ensure the free circulation of people and goods and the prevention of kidnappings and other crimes, throughout the country.
For More News And Analysis About Mozambique Follow Africa-Press
