Maputo — Thousands of Mozambicans on Tuesday bid their final farewell to former Prime Minister Pascoal Mocumbi, who died on Saturday, after a lengthy illness.
The Chairperson of the Mozambican parliament, the Assembly of the Republic, Esperanca Bias, representing President Filipe Nyusi, who is on official business in the United States, gave the funeral eulogy, stressing Mocumbi's legacy in the areas of health, research, an diplomacy.
"Mozambique has lost one of its best sons, a patriot who was dedicated to the cause of Mozambique and its people', said Bias. "He was a methodical leader, demanding with himself and with others'.
Addressing the mourners at Maputo City Hall, she said Mocumbi was "a teacher and an educator for his leadership cadres and collaborators, and contributed to their training and professional capacity building so that they might better serve the country'.
Bias stressed that in all the sectors and institutions where he had worked, Mocumbi distinguished himself by "an unparalleled and transparent leadership, oriented towards results, and always putting in first place the interests of Mozambique'.
"All that is left is for us to say - thank you!', she exclaimed. "We embrace your legacy as a guiding light, showing us the path to follow'.
Mocumbi's close friend, former President Joaquim Chissano, told the mourners that he had lost, not only a colleague and a companion, but also a brother.
Chissano recalled that he had first met Mocumbi in 1952, in Maputo (then known by its colonial name of Lourenco Marques) and since then their paths were always entwined.
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They had been together in the foundation, in 1962, of the Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo), and in all the subsequent developments in the liberation of the country from colonial rule.
"But on this journey you are beginning today, we cannot accompany you', said Chissano, "but we know that you will always be in contact with us, and we want to be in contact with you'.
The Frelimo General Secretary, Roque Silva, said "you have left, but the singularity of your virtues will remain engraved on our memories and in our hearts. We, your comrades in struggle, at this moment of final farewell, want to assure you that we shall always keep alive the values and principles you always defended, principles centred on the struggle for the well-being of all'
"With you, we learnt the meaning of the national cause, and of the highest interests of the people and of the nation', declared Silva.
