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FILIPE Nyusi

MAPUTO. — Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi declared on Tuesday that he remains willing to do everything possible to restore peace in the country — even though he thought it obvious that the rebel movement Renamo “does not want peace”.He was speaking at Maputo’s monument to the Mozambican Heroes, where he laid a wreath on the occasion of the 24th anniversary of the peace agreement signed between the government and Renamo in Rome on October 4, 1992.

Renamo has violated that agreement, as well as the 2014 agreement on a cessation of hostilities, and has resumed a low level insurgency, mostly in the central provinces. It is in the anomalous position of waging war in parts of the country, while undertaking normal political activities in the cities.

As has become habitual, Renamo’s Maputo members did not attend the official commemorations of the peace agreement but held their own meeting in front of their offices.

President Nyusi told the crowd at Heroes’ Square that under current circumstances it was impossible to celebrate the date. Instead he called on Mozambicans to reflect on how to achieve effective peace.

“For us, peace is the most important ingredient for pursuing all the economic and social development projects in our country”, he said. “We cannot continue looking for justifications for killing the hopes of the Mozambican people”.

He stressed his commitment to continue working so that Mozambicans could use the roads without fear of attack, “so that they have no fear of going to visit their relatives, of undertaking their activities and of travelling long distances”.

The peace anniversary this year was held in the shadow of destabilisation, President Nyusi said — carried out by the same force, Renamo, which had changed the direction of the country for the worse when it first embarked on war in 1976.

The 1992 agreement had shown that “as brothers, we can find the best paths to solve our differences. But the Mozambican people was and continues to be sacrificed by a group of people who, even though they are part of our society, regard the importance of peace in a different light”.

The government remains willing to continue a dialogue with Renamo, President Nyusi said, but he warned that the search for peace must not involve violating the Mozambique constitution (which was approved unanimously in 2004, with the Renamo parliamentary group voting in favour).

The President expressed his solidarity with the victims of the latest Renamo attacks, which took place on Monday — against the locality of Mecua, in the northern province of Nampula, and against a train in Cuamba District. — AIM.