Maputo — Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi has praised the independent weekly "Savana" on the occasion of its 25th anniversary.

"Savana" was the first of many independent weeklies founded after the abolition of the one party state in the Constitution of 1990, and the subsequent embrace of media pluralism in the 1991 press law. It is widely regarded as the best weekly in the country, in terms of the quality of its journalism.

It is owned by Mediacoop, which started life as a cooperative of journalists, and later transformed into a company. Mediacoop published, under the editorship of the late Carlos Cardoso, the first independent daily newsheet, "Mediafax", as from 1992.

This paved the way for the launch of "Savana" two years later. While several other weeklies have collapsed, "Savana" has published without interruption for quarter of a century, winning the respect of figures from across the political spectrum.

In his message, Nyusi praised "Savana" for an editorial line which envisages the media as a space for the debate of ideas within a pluralist society. "We believe that 'Savana' arose to give expression to the various ways of thinking of Mozambicans, seeking to build the citizenship which is the responsibility of all of us", he said.

"Savana" has frequently been highly critical of government policies, but Nyusi insisted that his government will continue promoting an environment in which Mozambicans can express themselves freely, and design their own destiny, in interaction with the authorities and respected the freedom of each and every citizen.