The new Mozambique Chief of Staff, dies after illness

MAPUTO, Mozambique

A statement issued by the Communications Office of the Mozambique Ministry of National Defence announces that General Eugénio Ussene Mussa died in Maputo today, February 8, 2021, after an illness.

General Mussa (pictured) passes away only weeks after being sworn in to his new post by President of the Republic Filipe Nyusi, having been at the same time promoted to the rank of General of the Army.

Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi last Thursday reshuffled the top leadership of the armed forces (FADM).

He replaced Lazaro Menete with Eugenio Mussa, as Chief of Staff of the FADM. Mussa had previously been commander of the Civic Service of Mozambique, the body established to absorb young Mozambicans who cannot be recruited into the armed forces.

But even before his appointment as Chief of Staff, Mussa had been put in charge of the FADM units in the northern province of Cabo Delgado, as Commander of the Northern Theatre of Operations.

In that role, he addressed a military parade in the Cabo Delgado provincial capital, Pemba, on 3 January and promised that 2021 will be “the decisive year” for defeating terrorism.

He called on Mozambican troops to act rigorously, to wipe out definitively the armed groups that have been terrorising several Cabo Delgado districts since October 2017, and who have now pledged their allegiance to the self-styled “Islamic State”.

Our reporter says that General Eugénio Ussene Mussa had been hospitalised for some time.

Mussa, a confidant of Nyusi since 2012 when he was defence minister, was from Moma, Nampula province.