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Joseph Madzimure and Wallace Ruzvidzo

PRESIDENT Mnangagwa yesterday met Mozambique’s ruling party, Frelimo, Secretary-General and presidential candidate in the country’s October general elections, Cde Daniel Francisco Chapo.

Cde Chapo, who arrived in the country yesterday, also met senior Zanu-PF officials ahead of Mozambique’s polls.

The 47-year-old governor of Inhambane Province was elected by Frelimo as its candidate for the October presidential elections.

Mozambique will hold its seventh presidential and legislative elections on October 9.

Earlier, Cde Chapo met Zanu-PF Politburo members at the party headquarters in Harare, where he promised to continue working towards the development of the two countries’ economies, if he wins the elections.

“Frelimo and Zanu-PF are sister parties, we are brothers. Mozambique is Zimbabwe and Zimbabwe is Mozambique. That’s why we are always together.’’

He said there was need to continue fighting to attain economic freedom.

“We are here because we want to be closer with Zanu-PF.  We want to continue to fight to develop our countries and to get peace,” he said.

Among the tasks that lie ahead of Cde Chapo, if he wins the Mozambican elections, is to restore security in the troubled oil and gas-rich province of Cabo Delgado, where Islamic State-linked insurgents have been terrorising civilians and destroying public infrastructure since 2017.

Cde Chapo informed Zanu-PF Politburo members that his country was still battling the terrorists in Cabo Delgado Province.

“In Mozambique, we have terrorists in Cabo Delgado Province, that’s why it is important to have cooperation between our countries to fight terrorism. We want peace and development between the two countries.”

Frelimo will intensify its campaign in August and seeks to learn from Zanu-PF.

“We know that Zanu-PF is experienced in terms of elections. We want that campaign spirit in Mozambique,” said Cde Chapo.  

His delegation constitutes Frelimo Politburo member Eneas Comiche, presidential advisor Rafael Jose Rohomodja, Central Committee member Tome Picasso, advisors Ricardo Sengo and Adilson Andinane, protocol officer Ana Celeste, and Zimbabwean Ambassador to Mozambique, Victor Matemadanda.

Speaking on behalf of Zanu-PF, party National Political Commissar, Cde Munyaradzi Machacha, said Zimbabwe and Mozambique were mutually and eternally bound by a solid history that linked the people culturally, socially, economically and politically.

Frelimo and Zanu-PF, he said, are liberation movements,  that shared a rich history of co-operation, even in the most difficult times.

“Gallant sons and daughters of Frelimo lost their lives as they fought side by side with Zanla comrades during the liberation struggle,” said Cde Machacha.

The two countries, he said, have a generational responsibility to defend the independence they enjoy today by massively mobilising during elections to ensure that they are victorious.

Given that the two countries have liberated themselves politically, the battles which currently confront them are in the economic sphere.

“We have seen co-operation being made in the reconstruction and harmonisation of the transport system, like the revamping of the railway lines in both countries,” said Cde Machacha. 

Mozambique and Zimbabwe have partnered in the dry port system, where the two countries benefit from their natural competitive areas, with Zimbabwe having access to the sea for its imports.

Cde Machacha said Zimbabwe has always been the gateway for its neighbour into the huge African continental market, highlighting the mutually beneficial relationship between the two sister republics.

Also, Mozambique and Zimbabwe have always co-operated on the critical regional, continental and global issues, given their similar circumstances derived from their common history.

Zanu-PF Politburo members, who attended the meeting, were Cde Christopher Mutsvangwa (Secretary for Information and Publicity), Cde Tendai Chirau (Deputy Secretary for Security) and senior party members of staff. 

Since Mozambique’s independence in 1975, Frelimo nominates candidates to represent the party in the presidential elections. 

If elected, Cde Chapo will become Mozambique’s fifth democratically elected leader. The late Cde Samora Machel was the first president of democratic Mozambique, succeeded by Cde Joachim Chissano, then Cde Armando Guebuza and current President Filipe Nyussi, all from Frelimo.