18 Apr 2022

Mozambique President Filipe Nyusi has thanked Batswana for playing an active role in his country’s liberation struggle to end centuries-old  Portuguese colonial rule.

He told guests at the official opening of the Samora Machel Museum in Lobatse on Thursday, that Botswana’s role in the liberation struggle was huge.

The role carried many risks but the iconic leadership of the time handled the delicate situation with much wisdom, he said.

President Nyusi therefore expressed profound gratitude to the government and people of Botswana for showing solidarity with their fellow Africans.

He said the museum was built in memory of one of Africa’s greatest freedom fighters, statesman and  the late former Mozambique President Samora Machel in the spirit of the cordial relations that existed for decades between the two countries. Promising to maintain the existing strong bilateral relations, Mr Nyusi.

He said Mr John Kgaboesele’s family, who harboured Mr Machel in their Peleng home, was one of many in Botswana which protected and defended Mozambicans against the oppressive Portuguese colonial regime.

President Nyusi said Botswana and its people supported the liberation movements in the region and provided safe transit for many fighters on their way to training and exile in other African countries. About the museum’s opening, he expressed delight at being a  witness to the historic event saying the project would improve Lobatse’s economic landscape. 

Presidents Masisi and Nyusi had an opportunity to tour tthe picturesque facility built on the Kgaboesele’s homestead at the foot of Peleng Hill. 

Mozambican liberation war veteran, Major General Matias Mboa, who was accommodated together with Mr Machel at the Kgaboesele homestead in 1963,  expressed his immense gratitude.

He described the Kgaboeseles as a humble family with the ability  to share the little they had. 

“Mr John Kgaboesele was not a man with many possessions but was rich with compassion as he shared the little he had. What really moved us was the man’s hospitality, his willingness to accommodate us in his home,” he said. ends