THE VIGIL FOR THE NEOCOLONIALISTS' LAST HARVEST

Paulo Vilanculo"

(Reflection on the rupture of government in Mozambique)

In Mozambique, the permanence of historical figures from the liberation struggle in centers of power has perpetuated an exclusionary political culture, in which the dominant party is confused with national identity itself. This text challenges the country to rethink the foundations of its national identity and break with the internal mechanisms of neocolonialism that continue to deny everyone the full right to be Mozambican. Under the cloak of liberation, an elite has been constructed that reproduces practices of domination and exclusion, transforming the dream of independence into a delayed and unequal process. This article critically analyzes the role of this "last crop" of liberators and questions whether their demise will, in fact, represent an opportunity for the emergence of an authentic, inclusive, and democratic citizenship in Mozambique.Some argue that Mozambique is at a turning point. But is the end of the neocolonialists truly near? Or are we facing a cyclical mutation, where the names change, but the methods and vices remain? Is there a real possibility of breaking with an exclusionary system and the chronic repetition of cycles of domination, only with new protagonists?

 In the 21st century, Mozambique experiences the paradox of having achieved formal independence, but not the freedom to exist in diversity. Mozambique today has become a country where there is no bread for all, where progress, so promised during election times, is constantly postponed, a dream pushed into an uncertain future, sen die. Stability, which, for the common citizen, means unemployment, hospitals without medicine, schools without teachers, and bridges that connect nothing to nowhere. Meanwhile, mansions are being built, shady businesses multiply, and fortunes are being accumulated. Citizenship has become conditioned by party affiliation, access to public resources is reserved for those in power, and fundamental rights are distributed through invisible quotas. The legacy of colonialism has been subtly appropriated by this new ruling class, which proclaims itself the guardian of the ideals of armed struggle. What we are witnessing is a years-long shift from colonist masters to party masters. In other words, a slavery of soul and conscience, in which Mozambicans are prevented from recognizing themselves as free, thinking individuals, builders of their own history. The persistence of men who call themselves liberators and "owners" of the Mozambican homeland seems to guide, even today, the greed and attachment to power of certain comrades who, surreptitiously or brazenly, perpetuate the partisan path as the only legitimate and identity-based way of being Mozambican. Under the guise of national unity, the hegemonic narrative constructed since the dawn of the Republic remains intact like a sacralized relic.

Mozambique is at a turning point, yes, but it should be an inevitable turning point for a choice: either the country breaks with the model of new internal colonizers or it will be condemned to live under a new silent, long, condoned tyranny.The national political elite, often composed of the same old faces, recycled into new positions, seems to have made a silent pact: to preserve privileges in the name of stability. It would not be an exaggeration to say that if the country continues on this path, it could experience centuries of a new form of slavery, marked not by physical chains, but by: institutional capture by party elites, impoverished education that inhibits critical thinking, poverty managed as a political strategy, external economic dependence, and chronic debt. The end of the neocolonialists will not be decreed by speeches or cosmetic reforms. Even if the generation of liberators disappears from the political stage, if the practices, systems of exclusion, and the logic of party dominance continue, the change will be merely cosmetic. Generational succession within the ruling parties seems more concerned with renewing faces than renewing values. Young people entering the system are trained to repeat the same behaviors of submission, illicit enrichment, and exclusion of others. Thus, there is a risk of a "transition of appearance," where internal neocolonialism dresses up in new clothes but maintains the same predatory logic: the people as pawns and the state's resources as family inheritance. Power will be recycled into new figures who repeat the same mistakes, as has been seen in many "transitions" in Africa.

The emergence of traitors to the nation is not a remote possibility, but it is an imminent risk. The so-called "new era of bootlickers," marked by emerging young people who rise to power not through competence or merit, but through blind loyalty and sycophancy to political leaders, may represent an even more corrosive phase of the system. The transition from an era of "complacent liberators" to the era of "technocratic bootlickers" represents no progress whatsoever. On the contrary, it represents the refinement of a power project that denies popular sovereignty, violates national dignity, and further weakens the Republic. "Bootlickers" do not question, do not propose, do not innovate; they merely obey. This leads to the erasure of political intelligence, critical thinking, and the ability to solve the nation's real problems. They are sycophants whose main function is to protect the leader's image, and to this end, they persecute critics, manipulate information, and promote personality cults. This logic promotes disguised authoritarianism, creating a culture of fear and blind obedience, incompatible with any democracy. By promoting loyalty to the boss over loyalty to the Constitution or the common good, the bootlickers help undermine the founding values of the Mozambican state: social justice, equality, unity in diversity, and the sovereignty of the people. They serve only group interests; in this sense, they are traitors to the nation in civilian clothes, thus making public administration a continuation of the vanity of superiors, rather than a response to the people's challenges.

If the end of the era of the liberators comes without a solid, ethical, and democratic alternative project, the void could be filled by populism, disguised authoritarianism, or external neocolonialism, with new forms of economic and cultural subjugation. Citizens' rights depend not only on political goodwill, but also on functional and inclusive justice, education, health, and public administration systems. Without strong, impartial, and non-partisan public institutions, any change in leadership is fragile. Therefore, what is needed beyond the end of the era of the "liberators" must be accompanied by profound institutional reform and the genuine de-partisanship of the State, with a political elite not based on revolutionary legacies, but on competence, ethics, and public service, with justice and historical reparations, recognizing that many Mozambicans were marginalized even after independence. Thus, promoting genuine popular participation in decision-making processes, not only in elections and in the re-education of citizenship, based on critical thinking and the appreciation of diversity.

It is urgent to reclaim the true meaning of independence. Democracy cannot continue to be an elitist travesty. We must reconfigure the political model that reduces citizen participation to five-yearly voting and limits representation to party affiliations. What is needed is the "last harvest" of the post-colonial harvest of an elite that feigns revolutionary action but acts like a neocolonial bourgeoisie. The last harvest of "lifelong liberators" seems to want to prolong its influence until the country's final exhaustion, hoping for dignity. The last harvest must, in fact, be in a homeland that can no longer bear the seeds of greed. The end of the era of the liberators can open space for a new narrative of identity and citizenship. But this will be transformative if it is accompanied by collective will, a break with exclusionary practices, and the construction of a plural, democratic, and profoundly human Mozambique.

2025/12/3