We cannot sit back, watch Mozambique terror: President
ROBUST action will be taken against insurgents in neighbouring Mozambique as an attack on any member state is an attack on all, while in Zimbabwe Zanu PF structures should ensure communities are on high-security alert to preserve the peace in the country, President Mnangagwa said.
Addressing the 351st session of the Politburo at the Zanu PF headquarters yesterday, President Mnangagwa said despite the declaration by the United Nations (UN) for 2021 as the “International Year of Peace and Trust”, “it is disheartening to note that the region is under attack”.
“Insurgencies are threatening to slow down and reverse our collective efforts to achieve the aspirations outlined in the United Nations SDGs, the African Union Agenda 2063 and within SADC.
“As Zanu PF, we stand in solidarity with our sister party, Frelimo as well as the Government and people of the Republic of Mozambique in the wake of the ongoing disturbances in Cabo Delgado Province, in northern Mozambique. An attack on one of us is an attack on all of us. United we stand. Hence, we cannot sit back and allow acts of insurgency to continue without a robust regional response. Last week, I therefore attended the SADC Double Troika Summit in Mozambique, where the regional bloc resolved to immediately make technical deployments towards restoring peace and stability,” he said.
In Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado region, Islamic extremists who claim links to the terror group ISIS, have been on a bloody rampage of killing innocent civilians and thousands others displaced.
A Zimbabwean man, Nyasha Mugwagwa was among the 12 people killed in Cabo Delgado’s Palma town last month by armed criminals who have been a menace in the natural gas-rich region since 2017.
“Government is currently working with the Mozambican authorities to establish the number of our nationals who were entrapped during the attack of Palma town, on March 24, 2021. Against this disturbing background, the party structures across all provinces must ensure that our communities are on high-security alert. Let us continue to jealously guard the peace and stability that is existing in our country.
“Under t he Second Republic, anarchy and lawlessness of any form are an alien culture and must never be allowed to take root,” said the President.
Last week President Mnangagwa attended a Double Troika Summit in Mozambique called by Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi, who is the current chairperson of the Organ on Defence, Politics and Security Cooperation, which is responsible for peace and security in the region.