“competent soldiers”

Mozambican Defence Minister Jaime Neto declared on Friday that the country needs competent soldiers who will not allow themselves to be enticed by individuals with agendas foreign to the development of the country.

Speaking at a graduation ceremony at the Samora Machel Military Academy in the northern city of Nampula, Neto said the country is currently the victim of aggression through terrorist attacks in the northern province of Cabo Delgado, as well as the ambushes by armed gangs of the self-styled “Renamo Military Junta” in Manica and Sofala, in the centre of the country.

“Today, faced with this scenario of threats to peace and to our sovereignty, we want to challenge the command of the Military Academy to take into account, during the act of training, the need to prepare officers to respond to this aggression, particularly to terrorism”, said Neto. The Minister stressed that the officers who graduate from the Academy must be able to assess and respond to any challenge concerned with the defence of national sovereignty and the maintenance of peace.

“The defence of the motherland must constitute your main mission”, he declared, and the attacks by the terrorists and by the Renamo Military Junta “should constitute a motivation for you to apply the knowledge acquired during your training for the defence of the country”.

Neto praised the Academy for annually receiving, training and uniting young people from all over the country, to fill positions in the hierarchy of the Mozambican armed forces (FADM). After calling for discipline, and obedience to their superior officers, the Minister urged the graduates to join the struggle against the Covid-19 respiratory disease, and ensure that the pandemic does not affect the structure of the armed forces.