This, said Guebuza, will be an "indelible tribute" to Samora Machel, and a sign of the consolidation of peace and national unity.
"We emphasise that the best and most permanent way of paying tribute to the founder of the Mozambican nation is to build a country where national unity is continually consolidated", he said.
"Our decision to conduct this ceremony here, at Independence Square in Maputo is to crystallise the bond between this place and the role of President Samora Machel as a mobiliser of his people and those from other parts of the world in the defence of noble causes", declared Guebuza.
Guebuza recalled that Independence Square was the stage of great political events, deeply linked to Machel's activities as the head of the young republic.
It was here that Samora Machel invested the first government of independent Mozambique, and here that he had announced decisions of great political, economic and social impact for the Mozambican people.
It was also here, in the City Hall, that the people of Mozambique bade their last farewells to Samora Machel, as his body lay in state, prior to the funeral held on 28 October 1986.
There is already a statue of Machel a short distance from the square, on the avenue that bears Machel's name, but it is now felt that this is not in a sufficiently prominent position for the man who led the country to its independence.
SOURCE: AIM
