Maputo — Mozambican President Armando Guebuza declared on Thursday that, despite the progress made in the country's development, no citizen is immune to the effects of poverty, and combatting poverty still needs the commitment of all Mozambicans.

Speaking in a message broadcast to the nation, on the occasion of the 34th anniversary of the country's independence, on 25 June 1975, Guebuza stressed that the development of Mozambique is perfectly real, as shown in the statistics on the numbers of schools, health units, water sources, roads and bridges built or rehabilitated, and by statements from the people themselves at the dozens of meetings he has addressed across the country.

Among the key achievements, he said, was the decentralisation of human and financial resources down to district level, allowing the 128 districts to play their role as poles of development.

But poverty was harshly revealed by the fact that so many Mozambicans cannot take advantage of many of the advances that have been made. Guebuza noted that, although many districts have now been electrified, many Mozambicans living there do not have electricity in their homes because they cannot afford it.

Similarly, mobile telephony now covers most of the country, but many citizens are too poor to buy a mobile phone.

And in some parts of the country, people might have the money to pay an electricity bill or to buy a phone, but those services had not yet reached these districts.

"These examples show how no Mozambican is immune to the painful and frustrating effects of poverty", said Guebuza.

Guebuza described national unity, the culture of peace and multi-party democracy as key ingredients for success in the struggle against poverty. "Let us persist and we shall win, just as we won in the fight to gain our independence", he declared.