BRIEF HISTORY OF SAMORA MACHEL - MOZAMBIQUE

 

• Samora was born on the 29th day of September in 1933.

• Samora was from Gaza province in the southern part of Mozambique

• Portuguese arrived in Mozambique in 1501.

• In the 1930’s they decided to bring settlers from Portugal to oversee farming, to produce raw materials for European Manufacturers.

• Samora parents were forced to grow cotton instead of food crop

• He was sent to a school run by Catholic

• When he was still a teenager his parents were kicked out of their land which was given to Portuguese settlers.

• Samora decline the missionary offer to send him to seminary school instead he chose Nursing few professions which were open for blacks.

• Samora was unable to secure the fees to complete formal training at the Miguel Bombarda Hospital in Lourenco Marques (today Maputo), he got a job working as an aide in the hospital and earned enough to continue his education at night school.

• While working as a nurse he found out that white nurses were paid more than black nurses.

• In June 1962 Mondlane accepted Tanzanian President Nyerere's invitation to convene the principal nationalist groups in Dar es Salaam.

The leaders of these groups agreed to form the Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (Frelimo) under Mondlane's leadership. Thereafter, the stream of Mozambicans making their way to Tanzania to take up arms became a river. 

• By August 1963 Samora Machel joined the National struggle, he made his way to Tanzania to join Mozambiquan Liberation Front – FRELIMO.

• Machel was a member of the first group of Frelimo soldiers sent to Algeria for military training. Upon completion of training, Machel returned to Tanzania to serve as an instructor at Frelimo's Kongwa military training camp. 

• By September 25, 1964, when Frelimo launched the armed struggle, 250 guerrillas had been trained for combat. Machel coordinated a guerrilla strategy for the Niassa campaign. 

• Two years later, upon the death of Frelimo's Secretary of Defense Filipe Magaia, Machel became secretary of defense and then commander-in-chief of the army—positions he held throughout the war.

• His qualities as a tough soldier and a persuasive speaker won him favor among his peers. He also enjoyed the confidence and respect of Frelimo President Mondlane. 

• By 1968, when tension due to conflicting political visions among competing factions within the leadership reached crisis proportions, Mondlane, sensing the imminent danger of assassination, remarked to a close friend: "They are determined to kill me…. But I am not worried anymore. We really do have collective leadership, a good leader. Frelimo—the movement—is greater than one man. They don't understand that…. That Samora, they don't know him. That man is brilliant. He understands."

• In 1969 Eduardo Mondalane was killed by a parcel bomb in Tanzania

• In April 1969 a presidential council was elected comprised of Uria Simango (former vice president), Samora Machel, and Marcelino dos Santos (former secretary for foreign affairs). 

• In November 1969 Simango was suspended from the council, and in February 1970 he was expelled from Tanzania. 

Machel became acting president and dos Santos acting vice president. At the fourth session of Frelimo's Central Committee in May 1970 their positions were confirmed and Simango was formally expelled from the party. 

• Machel, like Mondlane, was committed to the transformation of Mozambican society. 

He claimed: "Of all the things we have done, the most important—the one that history will record as the principal contribution of our generation—is that we understand how to turn the armed struggle into a Revolution; that we realized that it was essential to create a new mentality to build a new society." 

• As Frelimo president he continued his efforts to instill new attitudes among the Mozambican people in the war zones. 

• The armed struggle gained momentum in 1973-1974. In 1974 a combination of factors—not the least of which was Frelimo's tenacious military drive—led to the 25th of April military coup in Portugal and the subsequent collapse of Portuguese colonialism.

• On 25th June 1975 Samora declared Mozambique independence.

• He said that colonialism is a crime against humanity. Therefore, Samora helped other countries like Zimbabwe, South Africa, Tanzania

...

• Samora served as a president from 1975-1986. He struggled for unity and Education but the 19th day of October 1986 Samora died in a plane crash at mbuzini in mpumalanga, South Africa.

• ALUTA CONTINUA Victoria Ascerta: The Struggle continues, victory is certain.

ICONS NEVER DIE….. 

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