PEACE SHOULD MEAN IMPROVEMENTS, SAYS GUEBUZA

Mozambican President Armando Guebuza declared on Sunday that peace should mean an improvement, not a deterioration, in the living standards of the population.Speaking at a rally in Mavende locality, Machaze district, in the central province of Manica, at the start of the latest stage in his “open and inclusive presidency”, Guebuza said “our battle is development, but for this we must continue to defend and strengthen our peace among Mozambicans”. He was speaking when tensions in the centre of the country have risen because of clashes between gunmen of the former rebel movement Renamo and the Mozambican defence and security forces. After a series of Renamo ambushes in mid-October, the armed forces (FADM) occupied the Renamo bush headquarters at Satunjira, in Sofala province, on 21 October.At the Sunday rally, Mavende residents urged Guebuza to enter into dialogue with Dhlakama to overcome the problems. Guebuza has repeatedly declared that he is willing to meet with Dhlakama, but the Renamo leader has refused to come to Maputo for such a meeting.Guebuza agreed that dialogue is the answer to the situation, and warned that nobody should endanger peace, whatever his motives. “Peace, whether it’s signed or not, should mean an improvement in our lives, not a worsening”.He said that, throughout his visits this year to the districts and localities, he had noted that “Mozambicans want to fight against poverty, and most of them are indeed fighting against poverty. They know that they are going to win”.But this battle required hard work from all Mozambicans, because “poverty is not going to suddenly disappear”.“Life is changing for the better for all Mozambicans”, said the President. “But for this to happen more rapidly, we need to understand that in life we have individual and collective gains that we must strengthen”.Among those collective gains were national unity and peace. He stressed that nobody has more right to peace than anybody else. It was “immoral and criminal” for anyone to appropriate peace for themselves.