Speaking at a rally in Mieze locality, in Metuge district, in the northern province of Cabo Delgado, on the first stage of this year’s tour of the country, known as the “open and inclusive Presidency”, Guebuza stressed that the country’s Constitution, last amended in 2004, resulted from dialogue among Mozambicans, and it states that other laws are passed by the country’s parliament, the Assembly of the Republic, consisting of members of various political parties who have won the confidence of the electorate.
“So if anybody wants to change something in the country, it must be done through parliament, where each party can have its representatives elected by the people”, said Guebuza. “It’s parliament that has the mission to produce laws for everybody”.
Guebuza was reacting to concerns expressed by residents of Metuge about the recent events in the small central town of Muxungue, where armed members of the main opposition party, the former rebel movement Renamo, murdered four members of the riot police in an attack on the Muxungue police post. Two days later an armed gang, also believed to be from Renamo, attacked buses and trucks near Muxungue, killing a further three people.
“We want to continue fighting against poverty”, Metuge residents said, in a message presented at the rally. “But for this we require peace, and peace should be maintained through dialogue”.
Guebuza stressed that the Constitution, as a result of dialogue, was a guarantee of peace. “If we respect the Constitution, the country will progress, because we shall have peace. Everybody should defend the constitution”, he added.
Furthermore, he continued, whatever the intention of any Mozambican, he should not attempt to achieve it by preventing the people from living and working freely.
The clamour across the country for peace and not for war, the President added, was a sign that “Mozambicans are a people of peace’.
Post published in: Africa News