20 Dec 2021

 Botswana remains resolute in supporting Mozambique’s efforts to combat acts of terrorism and violent extremism in the country’s Cabo Delgado region.

This has been said by Minister of Defence, Justice and Security Mr Kagiso Mmusi who is on a three-day working visit to Mozambique.

Briefing his Mozambican counterpart yesterday, Mr Mmusi said Botswana was determined to contribute in neutralising the terrorism threat and restoring security as well as ensuring return of law and order in Cabo Delgado.

Botswana’s ultimate wish, he said, was to see the Mozambican government and its security forces being capacitated to effectively discharge their mandate of protecting and defending the country’s sovereign and territorial integrity on their own.

The minister said as one of the personnel contributing countries for SADC Mission in Mozambique (SAMIM),, Botswana also formed part of a task team assigned by SADC Secretariat to develop a framework for supporting Mozambique in combating terrorism.

“You will recall that this led to Government of Mozambique being requested to submit their training requirements to guide capacitation of Mozambique Defence Force and other security forces to effectively discharge their mandate of protecting and defending their territorial integrity,” he said.

Expressing confidence that collective efforts by SADC would ultimately succeed in normalising the situation in Mozambique, Mr Mmusi said he would be visiting Cabo Delgado to convey a message of gratitude to the troops for doing a sterling job and to boost their morale.

On bilateral issues, he said Botswana and Mozambique shared a strong bond based on democratic values and principles, transparency and mutual respect for the rule of law.

Mr Mmusi said the two countries would therefore continue to collaborate on a wide range of issues as espoused in the memorandum of understanding (MoU) they signed in 2019.“Botswana has started implementing contents of the agreement through training members of Mozambique Defence Force way before finalising contents of the MoU,” he said.

The minister stated that a total of 23 Mozambique Defence Force officers were undergoing training with Botswana Defence Force.

Ten were doing an aircraft technician course, seven undergoing pilot training while six pilots were on a conversion course, he said. ENDS