Afonso Dhlakama, leader of the main opposition party, the former rebel movement Renamo, has been threatening to hold nationwide anti-government demonstrations ever since he lost the October 2009 elections. But not a single Renamo demonstration has yet taken place.
Now Dhlakama has declared that the government must fall by Xmas, and has spoken of recalling demobilized Renamo guerrillas to new barracks. Although there is no sign that Dhlakama is able to make good on such threats, there are fears that some sort of disturbance might be organised.
Macamo was addressing the crowd in Gile, as part of a visit to Zambezia that began on Sunday.
According to a release from the Assembly’s press office, she warned that violent demonstrations could destroy the Mozambican people’s dreams of living in peace, tranquility and democracy.
“Violent demonstrations”, she said, “can only contribute towards destroying the efforts made by the government to overcome the poverty that still affects the majority of Mozambicans”.
“We should not take part in violent demonstrations, because they can only divide us”, she insisted. “We have already suffered greatly from war. It was only a short while ago that we began to rebuild the schools, the hospitals and the roads, and we still have a long way to go. With war, we cannot build anything. We want to continue working to create a decent future for our children and grandchildren”.
Macamo is visiting Zambezia in her capacity as a member of the Political Commission of the ruling Frelimo Party. The Frelimo brigade she heads intends to understand the political and social situation in the Zambezia districts, and listen to local people about the main problems they face.
She told her audience in Gile that she wanted to see what successes have been achieved, and also where there were discontinuities, “so that together we can advance in seeking solutions that can bring some development”.
At the rally, she was told that the main problems facing the population of Gile were shortages of clean drinking water, the lack of any banks, the lack of television signals, and delays in issuing identity cards. People who spoke at the rally also caused for improvements in the district’s roads and bridges, and the establishment of recreational facilities for young people.
Macamo promised to raise these issues with the relevant bodies when she returned to Maputo. “We think it is important that the district should have a bank or at least an automatic cash machine, so that people can with draw their money”, she said. “This would reduce the risks involved in depositing and withdrawing money”.
Macamo was also confronted with a complaint from Mario Machanuia, chairperson of the local Association for the Blind and the Deaf, who claimed that the National Social Welfare Institute (INAS) in Mocuba district shows nothing but contempt for the elderly.
Machanuia, who is himself an elderly man, claimed that “many elderly people have registered to obtain benefits, but they have received no outcome or information after waiting for five years”.
Macamo promised that she would find out what was really happening in Mocuba, because “everything we are today we owe to the elderly. If today we are alive and have somewhere to work, it’s because these people whom we today despise gave their blood to build what we are and what we have”.
Also on Tuesday, Macamo visited an association of artisans, consisting of three carpenters and a secretary, who have benefitted from loans from the District Development Fund (FDD). The association had been granted 100,000 meticais (about 3,700 US dollars).
Macamo told the Association that the money must be repaid, so that the FDD can work as a revolving fund and continue to support local initiatives. But in Gile, as in most districts throughout the country, the great majority of FDD beneficiaries have not yet repaid any of their loans.
Data from the district secretariat showed that, since 2007, slightly more than 41 million meticais has been disbursed from the FDD in Gile. But only 2.47 million meticais have been repaid, which is just six per cent of the money owing.
FDD money has supported 567 projects in Gile, which have created 4,292 jobs.
Post published in: Africa News