Ivan Zhakata
Herald Correspondent
PRESIDENT Mnangagwa has commemorated Mozambique’s founding President, Cde Samora Moises Machel, on the 40th anniversary of his death, paying tribute to his legacy and calling on African countries to advance his vision of peace, economic sovereignty and development.
In a statement this Monday marking the anniversary, President Mnangagwa said Africa must silence the guns, accelerate industrialisation and harness its natural resources for the benefit of its people, in keeping with the aspirations of Cde Machel and other founding leaders of independent Africa.
“The guns must fall silent on our continent, as the late Machel would have wished, to release Africa’s collective energy towards greater peace and development under a just social order,” he said.
President Mnangagwa said African countries should derive greater benefits from their natural resources through value addition and industrialisation, rather than relying on the export of raw materials.
“Our region and our continent’s quest to claim a greater share in our God-given finite resources through deliberate value addition and industrialisation at their African source can only resonate with the dear departed,” he said.
He said Cde Machel and fellow Frontline States leaders had fought for the complete sovereignty of African countries, adding that the current generation had a responsibility to sustain their vision.
“We dare not fail this founding generation of visionary leaders of our Africa,” President Mnangagwa said.
