Last Friday (06), in the city of Pemba, the capital of Cabo Delgado, a group of demonstrators toppled a statue of Alberto Chipande, a former (living) combatant, to whom official history attributes the authorship of the first shot in Mozambique's struggle for independence.

According to a video shared on social media, it shows the statue of one of the country's liberators being dragged through the streets of Pemba, while the crowd applauds effusively.

Chipande, who has various economic interests in Cabo Delgado, was Minister of Defense from Mozambique's independence until 1994, when the government that emerged from the first multi-party elections in the country's history took office.

According to a Savannah newspaperChipande's economic interests in his native Cabo Delgado have even been targeted by insurgents, who have been terrorizing that northern Mozambican province, rich in gas and other important resources, since October 2017.

(Photo DR)