Marromeu Residents Claim They Have Defeated Hunger

13 May 2011

Maputo — Residents of the Chupanga administrative post, in Marromeu district, in the central Mozambican province of Sofala, on Thursday told President Armando Guebuza that, thanks to their hoes, hunger has ended in that part of the country.

“Hunger is over, thanks to the hoe”, declared the people of Chupanga at a rally addressed by Guebuza, in the last stop of his tour of Sofala, in his “open and inclusive presidency”.

By way of response, Guebuza declared that Chupanga has a very active population, concerned about maintaining peace and eliminating poverty. “This year, the people of Chupanga defeated hunger, which is one of the main components of poverty”, he said.

He added that only a people with great interior strength is able to defeat such enemies as hunger and poverty. “This is a people capable of working wonders”, declared Guebuza who, prior to the rally, had visited an exhibition of agricultural and livestock products produced in Marromeu.

Despite the popular enthusiasm at a successful harvest, Guebuza urged his audience not to rest on their laurels, since there are still many obstacles to be overcome.

He attacked those who watch others produce, but do no work themselves. “The struggle against poverty is not waged by somebody else”, he said, “it’s a task for all of us”.

There were those who “make speeches to demotivate or to destroy what is being done”, he added. “But the important thing is that most Mozambicans are determined to keep the peace and fight against poverty”.

Guebuza also praised the Sena Company which owns the Marromeu sugar plantation and mill. He recalled that the Marromeu factory had been destroyed during the war of destabilisation but today, thanks to a partnership between the government and private business, it has been reborn and now employs 8,000 workers.

Guebuza has left Sofala and on Friday began a tour of the neighbouring province of Zambezia where he will visit the districts of Mopeia, Ile, Gilé, Mocuba and Namacurra.

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