by A.C.J. Gwambe (National President, Uniao Democratica Nacional de Moçambique
'THE
"Diploma Legislative" No. * 36 passed in Lourenco Marques in 1927 by
the white members OL the Mozambique Legislative Council, created the "Law
of Assimilation", which is a system of making Africans stooges of the
Portuguese Colonial Government. Any African who satisfies the following
requirements becomes a "Portuguese Assimilado":—
(1) Must
be profficient in the Portuguese language.
(2) Must
not adhere to the customs of the indigenous people.
(3) Must
hold a professional post in commerce and industry, and earn enough money to be
able to lead a decent life.
These
three requirements form the basis of conditions one must satisfy before he can
be assimilated, and this system leads Mozambique to a new form of
neo-colonialism. It was not until 1940 that the oppressed Africans started to
engage in movements which aimed £t the overthrow of the Portuguese imperialist
government. From 1940 to 1950, there was a total of about 4,349 Africans who
still adhered to the policy of assimilation which gave them certain social
privileges which differed from those enjoyed by the Mullatoes. People of Asian
origin, Portuguese and all the Mulattoes are not expected to satisfy the above
mentioned conditions as they are by. law not affected by the system of
assimilation. Asians together with the Portuguese control the country's economy
along a tight system of capitalistic monopoly backed by the English, Americans
and Germans. The 1955 official records indicated that the biggest agricultural
enterprises amounted to about 1,283 and that of this total, 1,088 belonged to
the Portuguese colonial masters, 59 to Indians, 34 to the Germans, and 14 to
the Pakistanis.
In accordance
with the rules of assimilation, all Africans who have undergone this process,
are regarded not as Africans but as "Portuguese", and yet not a
single one of these people is in possession of a farm. This applies equally to
the Mulattoes.
The Portuguese
and the Mulattoes number about 50,000 as against 6-^ million Africans. The
chief occupation of this minority group is to execute Portuguese colonial laws
which compel Africans to work' under slave conditions in the plantations.
These
people are beaten in a savage manner while they toil in the plantations. The
Assimilados and the Mulattoes act as a medium through which the Portuguese
slave owners issue orders to the oppressed - and humiliated Africans who have
not qualified to be regarded as Assimilados. The 1954 statistical records
showed that the Portuguese slave, owners earned about £25 a month through
agriculture and allied pursuits. The Assimilados earned about £13, while the
Mulattoes got a little over £17, and the Africans who worked under the system
of forced labour received only £1 19/-. and no allowance was made for the two
basic necessaries of life—shelter and food. The people of Mozambique are
clearly aware of the fact that Mulattoes and Assimilados are puppets who
execute Portuguese colonial instructions of slavery without question. One
Mulatto or Assimilado can take charge of about one hundred African plantation
labourers. This arrangement has created animosity between the African labourers
on the one hand the Mulatto-Assimilado group on the other. Nor is there any
co-operation between these groups which only work together when they have to
execute oppressive measures over the African labourers. The Mulattoes still
continue to look down upon the Assimilado because of the difference in salary
scales, for Mulattoes get more than the Assimilados. There is social
discrimination, too. All so-called Assimilados must produce identity cards or
certificates of exemption before they can be admitted into cinemas and dance
halls. This does not apply to Mulattoes who have free and unhampered access to
all public places. The people of Mozambique are today uniting to overthrow the
Portuguese oppressor government in the country. The fact that the people do not
November,
1961 p. 31
seem to be
prepared to follow the Mulatto-Assimilado political leadership retards the
national liberation struggle. They exclaim with anger that this group cannot do
them any good for it has always been a collection of Portuguese stooges who aim
at retarding national progress towards total freedom and independence.
Education
Discrimination
in education is worse than in all other spheres of life in Mozambique. Only
Portuguese children can acquire secondary and high school education, with a
small number of Mulatto and Assimilado children who must give an assurance
before they are admitted into schools that they will act as Portuguese spies
and stooges after completing their studies. Even as we write this, there is not
a single university graduate in Mozambique, with the exception of a few
Portuguese, Mulatto and Assimilado children who have completed their secondary
school education. Immediately after completing the secondary or high school
education, these people are taken to Portugal where they undergo a thorough
training as future Portuguese spies and stooges in Mozambique. Education for
African children is limited to Primary Catholic Mission Schools where they are
taught Portuguese language and catechism. In 1954 only 400,000 African children
were attending the mission schools. Protestant missions produce better results
than the Catholic ones. Assimilados and Mulattoes attend their own private and
separate schools, and this arrangement again is fraught with danger for the
ultimate aim is to bring about a feeling of hostility and racial superiority
and inferiority between the African children on the one hand and the
Mulatto-Assimilado children on the other. A Mulatto-Assimilado pupil who has
passed standard I is far better than an African child who has passed standard
III. A MulattoAssimilado child is not compelled to do catechism at schools
while this rule is rigidly applied when it comes to African children. Most
people have never understood the reason why our Party is
so solidly
backed by all the oppressed people of Mozambique. The reason is simple. At the
age of 13 in 1952, I was already working as a forced labourer. I worked with
about 700 senior forced labourers, and as the only person who had received
little education, I used to render them some assistance by writing their letters
and giving them an idea of the colonial problems confronting them. As a result
of this, I was thrashed every single day and imprisoned on a number of
occasions. At one stage I was sentenced to seven years imprisonment, but the
labourers were able to raise a sum of £25 for me which was paid to the goal
guard and I was released. Two members of our Party's National Executive have
also worked under the system of forced labour. The Vice-President of our Party,
F.C. Mahluza, was at one time sold to the South African Round Gold Mines, while
the Party's Publicity Secretary J.R. Siguake was always strictly policed by the
Portuguese authorities in Mozambique. Immediately after the formation of our
Organisation, I received many congratulatory messages from many people thanking
and admiring our courage and determination for having launched a Party under
such difficult conditions. We got more help and messages of solidarity from
some of our old friends who had seen our picture in one newspaper. This
resulted in many people from Mozambique itself giving tremendous support to our
Party. From my own experience I have realised that what the oppressed people of
Mozambique want is not a highly educated leader but just a determined and
dedicated leader armed with the principles of PanAfrican Nationalism, because
the political leadership of the MulattoAssimilado group will never be accepted
by the people of Mozambique. Nothing can shake us from the conviction that the
policy of Multiracialism would lead Mozambique to a new form of colonialism,
i.e., Neo-colonialism. The dangers of neo-colonialism in Mozambique became
clear recently when a Portuguese Minister of so-called Overseas Provinces made
a declaration that all Africans in the Portuguese colonies are citizens of
Portugal. This means that the same stooges who have always been dominating the
legislative Council will still be regarded as the representatives of the
oppressed people. No Mozambican can be elected to the Legislative Council if he
is not a Portuguese stooge. Like in all colonial countries, all Mozambicans who
are backed by the majority of people are declared traitors. Orders of arrest
are issued against them, and if arrested they are sentenced to long terms of
imprisonment. The National Democratic Union of Mozambique rejects any 'type of
government or representation in the Councils of State if such representatives
were not democratically elected by the majority of the people in the country.
Our aim is immediate and unconditional national independence with a government
democratically elected by the working class majority. The National Democratic
Union of Mozambique draws tremendous support from all Africans working under
forced labour conditions in the country, i.e. mines, plantations, farming
industries, railways, manufacturing industry, and stevedoring and dock workers.
We are determined to resort to any measure which will result in the overthrow
of the Portuguese colonial government, and which will result in the country
attaining national independence. We make an open declaration to all people that
we are fundamentally opposed to the system or policy of multi-racialism. It is
not our aim, however, to attack those who believe in multiracialism, despite
the fact that multi-racialists are instruments of imperialism. We will never
allow racial representation in our national government; for we shall consider
individual merit as sufficient. A rule by the majority is our only aim, and
individuals who become intolerant to a rule by the majority will be dealt with
accordingly by our Immigration Ministry. We propose the name
"Monomotapa" in the place of a colonial name "Mozambique".
32 VOICE
OF AFRICA
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