Maputo — Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi on Friday declared that, just as Mozambicans inherited the natural environment from their ancestors, so that must leave it in good condition for future generations.
Speaking at a rally in Nacala-a-Velha, in the northern province of Nampula, on the occasion of World Environment Day, Nyusi said “our ancestors did not destroy the environment because they knew it is the guarantor of life”.
He stressed that preserving the environment means “guaranteeing that people continue to breathe pure air, take care of the soil, ensue that trees exist and give shade, and that marine resources and other species continue to exist”.
“I urge the entire Mozambican people to continue preserving the environment because it is from the environment that we live”, said the President.
Nyusi urged Mozambicans to take care of the country’s forests, replanting trees to replace those that are cut down. “Only by protecting nature can we live well”, he warned.
Nyusi was speaking just days after the country had received some disastrous environmental news. The latest census of Mozambique’s elephant population showed that 48 per cent of the country’s elephants have died, mostly at the hands of poachers, between 2009 and 2014.
Nyusi also stressed the importance of maintaining peace and national unity, if the country is to achieve development, and he reminded his audience how much Mozambican independence had cost.
Prior to the independence war, he said, “there were several attempts to liberate Mozambique in various areas of the country, but because these were isolated, colonialism managed to crush them. It was thanks to the unity of Mozambicans in the south, centre and north that it was possible to win the liberation war”.
Nyusi condemned all attempts to divide the country, and warned “we are not going to allow this to happen”.
Nampula, like any other province, had the right to develop, he said, without threats of division, which drive away the very investors who promote development.
Mozambicans had paid a price in blood for the war of destabilisation which had lasted from 1977 through to 1992. He thought there was not a single Mozambican who had not lost a relative during that war.
Mozambicans should not kill each other again, just to satisfy somebody’s desires, he said.
“If there are any problems, we shall hold a dialogue and solve them, without killing each other”, he declared.
During the rally, speakers asked Nyusi to ensure that the new port of Nacala-a-Velha, built to export the coal produced by the Brazilian company Vale at its mine in Tete province, should also be used to export local produce. They urged that the new railway from Tete to Nacala-a-Velha should not be used exclusively for coal shipments, but should also carry passenger trains.