The secretary-general of the Mozambican Youth Organisation (OJM), the youth league of the ruling Frelimo party, Silva Livone, in a statement seemingly devoid of irony, called for a successor to party chairperson Filipe Nyusi who mirrors his leadership style
Livone was speaking at the opening of the OJM’s national council, which is taking place ahead of Frelimo’s Central Committee which will be held on 5-6 April, in Maputo.
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Silva Livone’s statement quickly went viral with Mozambicans insisting that it might have been an April’s Fool joke, and not the wish of Frelimo’s Youth League. After all, it has become almost a consensus among Mozambicans that unfortunately Nyusi is so far the worst president the country has ever had.
What’s more, Livone did not specify what he meant by someone which Nyusi’s leadership profile; whether he meant that the latter should continue at the helm of the country or that he meant somebody like Nyusi.
However, what perhaps Livone did not understand was that by talking of the desirable profile for OJM, he was inadvertently starting the debate on who is to succeed Nyusi and be Frelimo’s standard bearer in the October 2024 general and presidential elections.
Filipe Nyusi and his party secretary-general, Roque Silva, have so far attempted to muzzle any debate on the issue of succession, raising speculations that the two wished to foist their own preferred candidate on the party at the very last minute with nothing else to be done.
Regardless, either Livone was being sincere or he was being politically correct, knowing that Nyusi’s days at the helm of both the party and country are numbered. Especially because Livone’s support to head of the Youth League was former Frelimo secretary for mobilization, Caifadine Manasse, a decision that drove a wedge between Manasse and Roque Silva.
Meanwhile, Manasse is said to be part of one presidential hopeful, Basílio Monteiro, a former minister of the interior.
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