COUNCIL OF DEMOBILISED SOLDIERS REJECTS PROTESTS

Mozambique’s National Council of Demobilized Soldiers (CODEG) has rejected calls for demonstrations to demand money which the government allegedly owes the former soldiers.Herminio dos Santos, a man who heads a forum of demobilized troops that is part of CODEG, has called insistently for such protests, but CODEG says there is no reason for demonstrations since the Government is aware of their demands.Cited in Thursday’s issue of the Maputo daily “Noticias”, Adelino Cebola, deputy president of CODEG, said dos Santos has no right to speak on behalf of the Council, and accused him of attempting to politicize the demands of the demobilized soldiers.Cebola criticized dos Santos for using “foul language” in his speeches. He said such behaviour undermines the efforts of both CODEG and the government to find solutions to the problems of the former soldiers.'We disagree with the behaviour of Herminio Dos Santos”, said Cebola. “We call on the associations affiliated to the Council, and to demobilized soldiers in general, not to be guided by Herminio Dos Santos, because he does not represent their legitimate interests”.Cebola said that the fund recently approved by the Government of 4.1 million meticais (about 115,000 US dollars) for the various associations of demobilized soldiers was a result of efforts made by CODEG not by Dos Santos. He said the fund was set up to strengthen the associations of demobilized soldiers and also solve other problems submitted by them to the Government.These include revising their pensions, the future of demobilized soldiers who spent more than two years in the army, the future of demobilized soldiers recruited illegally when they were less than 15 years old and the rights of orphans whose parents died during the war of destabilisation. (The law on military service stated that soldiers should be demobilized after two years, but many recruited during the war spent much longer periods in the army).“Most of these points are being addressed by the Government. What we must demand, in a peaceful way is a calendar indicating the period within which these problems must be solved”, said Cebola. “Violent demonstrations will not solve anything. Instead, they will just slow down the search for solutions to our problems”.