Maputo — Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi announced on Wednesday that more than 80 per cent of demobilized guerrillas from the former rebel movement Renamo are now receiving their pensions.
Speaking in the Gorongosa National Park, in the central province of Sofala, he recalled that it was in the park, five years ago, on 1 August 2019, that he and Renamo leader Ossufo Momade had signed the agreement on a definitive end to hostilities.
Key to that agreement was the "Demobilisation, Disarmament and Reintegration' programme, under which some 5,200 former Renamo fighters laid down their weapons.
So far, 4,115 of these people had applied for pensions to the National Social Security Institute. In 4,089 cases, the pensions had been fixed and the paperwork sent to the Administrative Tribunal.
"Of these 4,089 cases, 3,797, which is 92 per cent, have been approved by the Administrative Tribunal and 3,688, which is 89 per cent, have started receiving payments', he said.
The President believes that the end of the armed conflict allowed for the restoration of Gorongosa National Park, with actions to repopulate the animals and restore infrastructures, as well as the resumption of socio-economic activities by local communities, who are now involved in protecting forest and wildlife resources.
On the same occasion, marking the International Day of Forestry and Wildlife Rangers, Nyusi, in honor of the agreements to cease military hostilities, put electronic collars on two lions, naming them "Master Peace' and "Madame Peace.'
Also in Gorongosa district, the President inaugurated a Polytechnic Institute, budgeted at 15 million dollars and covering an area of 56 hectares, 30 of which are reserved for agricultural activities.
According to Nyusi, the institute, which was built with the support of the Chinese government, will boost the skills of the local population in various sectors.
"We want people with skills to come out of this district, with the ability to know how to do things, and for that they need to have in-depth scientific knowledge', he stressed.
Nyusi believes that there is no doubt that the infrastructure will create new dynamics in the region "since the classrooms are well equipped with all kinds of equipment.
For his part, the Secretary of State for Technical and Professional Education, Mety Gondola, revealed that the country currently has 73 public, 27 semi-public and 145 private training institutions. There are 106,992 students in the industrial area, taught by 8,005 trainers.
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"When we began this journey, only nine to ten per cent of the students in our sub-system were girls', he said. "Today girls account for 23 per cent of our students'.
The Minister of Land and Environment, Ivete Maibaze, praised Nyusi's work for the conservation of biodiversity. She claimed it was thanks to Nyusi's commitment that the Zinave National Park, in the southern province of Inhambane, has become a conservation success story for the "big five' (elephant, rhinoceros, buffalo, lion and leopard).
Nyusi urged all Mozambicans to unite in defence of the environment, and lamented the deaths of five rangers at the hands of poachers, or in animal attacks, over the past year.
The rangers, he said, are "the protectors of the earth, of wildlife and the environment, against bush fires and illegal hunting and fishing. Rangers are the silent heroes who guarantee the harmony and tranquility of our conservation areas'.
