Mozambique’s Minister of National Defence, Cristóvao Chume, today pointed to the need to recruit more young people for the Compulsory Military Service (SMO), given the terrorist threat that the country still faces.
“I want to remind young people that the country is ours and nobody else’s. The country belongs mainly to young people, because they are the ones who build the present and also the future. Let’s not let terrorism spread, let’s protect our families, let’s come together as one people,” appealed Cristóvão Chume, Minister of National Defence, in the district of Nhamatanda, Sofala province, at the launch ceremony for this year’s military census campaign.
“Young people of your age, from all corners of the country, are doing their best to defend the population of Cabo Delgado and the population of the whole of Mozambique. So we use this opportunity to encourage our young people who are on the front line in the fight against terrorism and violent extremism to continue with courage and firmness that Mozambique will defeat terrorism, whatever the cost,” said the minister.
This military census campaign kicked off on January 2 and until February 28 the Ministry of National Defence plans to register 221,141 young men and women, through a total of 1,499 fixed posts.
“We’re all going to take part in the military census so that we can strengthen National Defence and particularly the Armed Forces in civic service, for the good of our country,” he stressed.
The exercise takes place at the beginning of each year and does not automatically imply incorporation into the SMO, which is subject to aptitude tests and the number defined annually for entry into the Mozambique Armed Defence Forces (FADM).
In December, the Mozambican parliament approved the revision of the Military Service Law, which establishes an increase from two to five years in the minimum length of service in the general troops and from two to six years in the special forces.
On 22 November, Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi called for “decisions” on the capacity of the Armed Forces in Cabo Delgado to respond, particularly with reservists, in view of the planned withdrawal of foreign forces supporting the terrorist groups on the ground.
“Concrete decisions on the response capacity of the Armed Forces in relation to their action in the fight against terrorism in Cabo Delgado in the period after the withdrawal of friendly forces from SAMIM and Rwanda,” he appealed, speaking in Maputo at the opening of the XXIV Coordinating Council of the Ministry of National Defence.
“To this end, your reflection should also assess how best to capitalise on the wealth of reservists, committing them directly or indirectly to various missions for the defence of our country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. And the current reality justifies it,” he added, giving as an example the former combatants of the liberation struggle, who “are still useful, even after 40 years”.
In the fight against terrorism in Cabo Delgado, Nyusi stressed the importance of “calling on citizens” and society in general to “actively participate in the national defence effort”.
Last August, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) summit approved the extension of the mission in Cabo Delgado, Mozambique, for 12 months, until July 2024.
In addition to SAMIM and the Mozambican government forces, Rwandan troops are fighting the insurgency in Cabo Delgado.
The province of Cabo Delgado has been facing an armed insurgency for six years, with some attacks claimed by the extremist group Islamic State.
The insurgency has led to a military response since July 2021, with support from Rwanda and SADC, liberating districts near the gas projects, but new waves of attacks have emerged in the south of the region and in neighbouring Nampula province.
The conflict has already displaced one million people, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and caused around 4,000 deaths, according to the ACLED conflict registration project.
Lusa
