Mozambique holds cultural festival to call for peace

MAPUTO - Mozambique held its 9th cultural festival in the central province Sofala Wednesday to call for peace and repudiate atrocities in the country.

"Let us make our cultural diversity a source of strength and wealth, and mobilize our counterparts to love their brothers, to love working," said Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi when addressing the festival.

More than 900 representatives from all over the country participated in the event held in the city of Beira, Mozambique's second largest city after the capital Maputo.

The festival venue is one of the epicenters of the political tension between government forces and the former rebel movement Renamo which is allegedly attacking civilians.

The normal circulation of people and goods in the region can only be guaranteed with the escort of Mozambican armed forces.

"We salute all Mozambicans present here. They were brave enough and moving forward," said the president.

Minister of Tourism and Culture Silva Dunduro appealed to the participants to make the event a mechanism for expressing their dissatisfaction with the political instability facing the country.

He said this festival is not only a demonstration of different national feelings but also a representation of the African identity which has been relying on oral transmission of knowledge from generation to generation.