President of Mozambique, Filipe Jacinto Nyusi was on Thursday awarded an Honorary Degree in International Affairs and Diplomacy by the University of Malawi (UNIMA) at the Great Hall in Zomba.
Malawis president, Dr. Lazarus Chakwera who is also UNIMA Chancellor conferred the honorary degree to the Mozambican leader, the third person to be awarded an honorary degree since the establishment of the university 59 years ago.
Speaking before conferring the degree to Nyusi, President Chakwera said the award of the Honorary Degree to President Nyusi is a great respect and recognition of the enormous achievements that the Mozambican leader has made and continues to make to foster the relationship between the two countries.
He said that since Nyusi took over leadership of Mozambique, Malawi has enjoyed cordial and bilateral relationships in various development areas, from transport to trade.
The president added that apart from promoting the relationship, President Nyusi has been at the forefront of supporting Malawi in times of disasters citing Tropical Cyclone, Anna, Gombe and Freddy devastations.
“Today, we celebrate another chapter of the relationship of our two countries. President Nyusi has portrayed a transformative and instrumental leadership and that cannot go unrecognized.
“Through his leadership, we have witnessed the birth of peace and stability in the region and Malawi has benefited from this,” the president added.
Chakwera said through Nyusi’s leadership, the two countries have signed a number of Memorandum of Understandings (MOU) in various sectors of economy that has seen Malawi benefiting.
The Malawi leader expressed hope that Malawi and Mozambique will continue to support each other to open more areas of bilateral relationship.
In his acceptance speech after being awarded the doctorate degree, President Nyusi said he was happy to be recognized by the prestigious institution in Malawi.
President Nyusi said he did not take the award as a mere thing but a great recognition of the strong relationship that exist between the two countries.
The Mozambican president therefore promised to continue supporting Malawi in many aspects to ensure that the bond between the two countries continues to get stronger for the benefit of both states and the entire Southern Africa Development Community (SADC )region,
“We will continue to create safe environments for our people by fighting terrorism while at the time promoting trade and industrialisation,” Nyusi added.
UNIMA Vice Chancellor, Prof Samson Sajidu said the honorably degree was based on the contribution that President Nyusi has made in addressing challenges within Mozambique and across the region.
Born on February 9, 1959, in Mueda District, Cabo Delgado Province, Nyusi became the 4th Mozambican leader on January 15, 2015, and was re-elected in 2019, serving his second term.
His academic career started in 1976 when he attended his secondary school education at Mariri Secondary School in Cabo-Delgado Province.
In 1982 he completed his high school education at the Samora Machel Secondary School in Beira, Sofala Province.
In 1990, Nyusi obtained a Masters Degree with distinctions in Mechanical Engineering from VAAZ Brno Military Academy in Czech Republic.
The Mocambique leader also has postgraduate qualifications in Management from Victoria University, Manchester, United Kingdom.
Before ascending to the seat of the presidency, Nyusi worked with the Mozambique Ports and Railway Company, while there, he rose to the ranks of assistant to the head of the general shop’s service, a Railways Director and later Managing Director of the Maputo Ports and Railways Company, in charge of business operations.
From 2002 to 2008, he worked as a mathematics part-time lecturer at the Pedagogical University in Nampula.
As president, Nyusi, has served in various portfolios such that in 2020 he was elected SADC Chairperson where he played a huge role of mobilising the private sector to play a major role in regional economic integration.
From 2015 to 2016, he chaired the SADC organ on politics defence and security cooperation where he actively played another role of preserving peace and stability in the region.
In 2022, President Nyusi was appointed by the African Union heads of state and government as champion for Disaster Risk Management in the continent.
On the political landscape, President Nyusi has made some remarkable achievements one being restoring the lasting peace through dialogue with RENAMO and signed a Peace and National Reconciliation that saw 5,221 ex-combatants of RENAMO being disarmed, demobilised and reintegrated into society.
Bilaterally, President Nyusi has leveraged relations with Malawi with bold initiatives in the areas of transport and communications, energy, social and cultural exchanges.
