Soon after independence, Joaquim Chissano was appointed as the first black Minister of Foreign Affairs by the then President of Mozambique, Samora Moises Machel. He was appointed together with other ministers in different portfolios.
In 1975, during the transitional government, Chissano approached me to work in his ministry. In what capacity I did not know.
In late 1975, I represented my country at the United Nations in America. I met up with many freedom fighters from different African countries whom I met previously in Accra Ghana, together with important delegates from different countries. The conference was a success, for we presented what we wanted to do in Mozambique as a newly formed government.
Many Democrats welcomed our ideas. I also met my former girlfriend, Evelyn, who went looking for me at the hotel I stayed. It was wonderful to see her again. She regretted deserting me in favour of those with money while I was a student. We had a good time together. She wanted to return with me to Mozambique, but she did not have the proper documentation, therefore, she remained.
The following year I went to Swaziland to represent my country at a reed dance ceremony. I enjoyed the activities. I was treated with great respect and was given an interpreter. She translated and explained everything to me in English. During the ceremony, the hostess told me that I was supposed to choose a lady I liked.
I thought she was joking. I told her that it was not proper for me to choose a girl before the king, for that would be disrespectful. It would result in a war between the two of us. I even warned the lady, jokingly, that Mozambique had just defeated the Portuguese and that the king was going to suffer because I had much experience in fighting.
In Swaziland, I also met my dear friend, J.J. Nxuku, the man who had accommodated me when I was running away from the Portuguese. He was happy to see me and boasted that he was the one responsible for my achievements. I was also happy to see him after such a long time, when both of our countries were free from colonialism. He never forgot to remind me of ‘yasha moto’, the time when his car was burnt by his so-called enemies.
(Dr Massinga in 1975, during the transitional government working as a director in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.) In 1976, Evelyn called to tell me that she had given birth to a son and that the child was mine. She wanted me to name the child, and I named him Sebastian.
I invited her to come to Mozambique, but she refused. In 1976, a war broke out in Mozambique. This time it was the National Resistance of Mozambique (RENAMO) versus the FRELIMO government. The resistance movement was led by one of the former soldiers of Mozambique, Andrea Machangayisa. I could not understand his motive for starting the war, for we were
all happy that Mozambique was free. Samora was sure that he would defeat RENAMO within a few months. Personally I never knew Andrea, but I heard that he was one of the soldiers who fought against the Portuguese. When FRELIMO defeated the Portuguese, when guns were transported from the bush to Lorenzo Marques, he would hide some in the bush, and that’s how he managed to start his war. Then the Boers in South Africa supported him for they were
enemies of the blacks, together with Kamazu Banda, who was the great enemy of Machel.
Chissano was a good and a polite man. We were good friends, and even today we keep contact, but the problem is that he is now a man over many people because of his position. I worked in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a Director for the Department of Research, Planning and Professional Training. During my time in the ministry, I discovered that our people lacked administrative skills. Letters would be sent direct to different Ministries, but they would not reach their destination. People would send their complaints to our Ministries that the information passed to them would be incorrect, or not passed on at all.
During my third year in the Ministry, I saw that it was very important to address the issue we were faced with in our government. We needed to be in touch with the world and with our people. I had to work out a strategy to improve administration in our different departments. I thought of introducing a training institute for the secretaries from different departments. I first arranged the venue, which was located in one of the rooms of our famous building called 33ºAndar (33rd floor) in downtown newly named Maputo. The FRELIMO government
had started re-naming the towns, cities, streets, avenues, rivers and many other places after freedom fighters, well known tribes, etc. I arranged for the Brazilian government to help me introduce such an Institute for secretaries. I also founded the Institute of International Relations. Not many people know that I am the founder of that department.
My next move was to invite all the Ministries to send their secretaries to this school. The problem was, who was going to pay the fees of the participants? I approached my Ministry, and I was told to approach the Ministry of Education.
The Ministry of Education told me to approach the Ministry of Labour. This process took me another three years. During my years at the Ministry, I worked with many freedom fighters from South Africa on the side of the ANC. I was the one who arranged for them to go to other countries . I also arranged for them to stay in Mozambique where some were given jobs.
We knew what they wanted. We had fought for the same thing they were fighting for. Their leaders and many other freedom fighters were well known in Mozambique and throughout the world. They were Nelson Mandela, Govan Mbeki, Walter Sisulu and many others. They were imprisoned since 1964.
We Mozambicans stood by the South Africans as freedom fighters.
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