mbulelo smpofu
CDE Daniel Chapo was yesterday inaugurated as Mozambique’s fifth president since the country attained independence from Portugal in 1975.
Speaking after his investiture in Maputo, the capital, the 47-year-old promised to fight corruption, nepotism and poverty.
Watched by an audience of about 2 500 including Heads of State and Government and their representatives, top officials and his supporters, he pledged to rationalise the civil service and reset government priorities. Achieving social and political stability in the country, he added, will be “the priority of priorities.”
We are delighted that President Chapo has taken over, extending the rule of the revolutionary party, Frelimo, by another five years. This came after an intense, violent campaign by the local opposition and their funders to disrupt the transition.
Indeed, the plot by White interests, fronted by local opposition parties, to use the ballot and street violence to frustrate or unseat revolutionary parties has been clear in southern Africa in recent elections — South Africa, Botswana and Namibia. The campaign has succeeded in some cases but failed in others notably in Namibia and Mozambique.
As a matter of fact, however, the Western scheming started way back in 2000, with our country being the target. Illegal sanctions, the Movement for Democratic Change and a parade of civic bodies were unleashed against Zanu-PF. All that failed.
In Mozambique, we saw Mr Venancio Mondlane, who contested in the October 9 poll as an independent to emerge with 25 percent of the vote, inciting nationwide demonstrations. He left the country for some time, and returned ahead of President Chapo’s inauguration. Landing at an airport in Maputo, he performed a well-worn opposition antic, particularly in our country, when he comically took an “oath of office.”
We expect the chaos he has caused to die down soon, not just because of the robust response to it by law enforcement, but also because President Chapo is now in office.
An Islamist insurgency has been active in northern Cabo Delgado Province since 2017. It has resulted in deaths of almost 5 000, displaced thousands and disrupted business.
President Chapo has to find a way to end this carnage.
Our brothers and sisters in Mozambique do not deserve all this having fought a protracted, bitter armed struggle for decades and fought Renamo bandits over the first 16 years of independence. They deserve lasting peace.
The president must also intensify the Frelimo effort to defeat poverty and promote greater economic development. The country’s vast natural gas resources, minerals and so on must be judiciously exploited in a manner that ensures more durable national development.
Amid climate change, Mozambique has suffered the worst in the region as a result of floods, droughts and cyclones. We expect his government to build national resilience against these devastating phenomena.
The order, like President Chapo himself, is very tall indeed but we trust Frelimo will deliver for its people.
