Continued from page 23
handful of the African' population
has been favourably affected. Dictator Salazar, with brutal candour
says as much: "A law recognizing
citizenship takes minutes to draft
and can be made right away: a citizen—that is a man fully and con-
siciously integrated into a civilised
political society—takes centuries to
achieve."
In order that the decadent ruling
elite of Portugal may cling to dieir,
fond "vice of history", the helpless
peoples in the colony must live for
countless centuries in political serfdom and cultural thraldom—and
such is the prospect offered us. Such
is the prospect the agents of the imperialists are striving to perpetuate.
For 465 years the relationship of
oppressed Mozambique African with
the Portuguese has remained the
same—of a servant; and 465 years,
of variations on the persistent theme
—that of a servant—demands, not
further involvement in embroidery
on the variation, but destruction of
the theme itself, its perpetuators, and
its agents. It is not necessary for us
to recapituate here the picture, dismal and disturbing, that prevails in
Mozambique. That picture was
drawn with precision and power by
UDENAMO in its petition to other
United Nations in November 1963.
Who does not know of the overwhelming illiteracy, the griding poverty of the African people there ?
Who does not resent the constant
surveillance under which the humblest African lives, where any African who changes his residence, in
all innocence, from one district to
another, is forthwith captured and
penalised ? Need one repeat in detail the story of repressive exploitation of the African by the ruling
white minority elite? Furthermore,
dare we forget the many thousands
of Africans killed by the Portuguese
forces", the many freedom fighters
arrested and imprisoned, the stench
of the concentration camps, the situation whereby the innocent and
freedom-loving African has been
turned into an export commodity, a
domestic slave, a forced labourer ?
Let us frankly and decisively recognise that what UDENAMO is
involved in—the struggle for the' li-
28       VOICE OF AFRICA
beration of Mozambique,—is something elemental, irrepressible and
irreversible. UDENAMO knows that
the African of Mozambique must
emerge, not only politically but psychologically and economically.
This assertion of the African personality, this determined quest for
national identity, by us for whom
the dominant Portugal has fixed
boundaries, is of fundamental, world-
shaking importance. The Mozambican African for many generations
was warned against aspiring for excellence; he was asked to make
peace, not only with mediority, but
with meanness. Today he is unbound; he is resolute in face of the
most stubborn and sustained brutality of the colonial powers. As the
weight of the white man lifts in the
African continent, and as the horizon of political freedom widens, his
deeper and fuller assertion seeks unfettered expression. It is easy to
wipe away tears: it takes, however, deeper sympathy to wipe
away the invisible tears which
continue to haunt laughter and
speech and song. These inner tears
will dry only when cultural continuity is regained, thus assuring identity and renewal at the foundation
of our own lives.
Today UDENAMO is engaged in
that miracle of rebirth: the joyous
and triumphant reassertion of the
individuality of the Mozambican,
and the unfolding of the African
personality. In the presence of that
miracle of re-birth we of UDENAMO warn the world that the problem of Mozambique is deeper than
political freedom. It is one of cultural emancipation.
It is the strife-torn confrontation
between the Portuguese colonials
and the Africans that make the situation in Mozambique so eminently fateful. Thesheath of decadence
cannot muffle or obstruct the expression of the awakened Mozambican. Either the scales are removed
willingly, or they must be violently
cast aside. The latter is our alternative.
It is futile to hope for a change
of heart or of purpose among the
Portuguese rulers. Only determined
men, united in the pursuit of freedom, can solve the problem. The
facts of life and the lessons of his
tory brand these truths on our consciousness. To be with unlit lamps
and ungirt loins at this critical hour
in the history and conscience of the
Mozambique people is to ignore our
own peril.
Voice cv .-.;v!c:
Supports
'J:^cr.
Government
For
Africa