Are the people who swear to serve the homeland today truly the best we have?
We are watching closely. Not to promote memes. It's just that the way leaders read their oaths can also reveal how they read the room, how they read the region, and how they read the world. In a competitive and collapsing global order, how can we expect them to defend our country if they can't understand where the world is heading?
Can we set ideology aside for a moment? Let's freeze political preferences. This isn't about left or right, red or green. I'm talking about the quality of leadership in times of global turbulence, okay?
Around the world, the most powerful economies are showing us a harsh truth: choosing weak and unqualified leaders is not just bad politics, but a direct threat to national sovereignty.
So, we must ask ourselves: how and why do we choose these leaders?
Mozambique, like some nations, is rich in natural resources. And that alone makes it a global player by default. But if leadership is weak, that status becomes a risk. Resources without vision become missed opportunities. Wealth without competence becomes exploitation.
I chose, for several reasons, one country for us to analyze together. China. Not because it's perfect, it isn't. Not because it's always admired, far from it. But because it did one thing very well: it invested in competence.
In 1974, when Mozambique took on a transitional government, China was a poor, rural, and isolated country. Its economy was small. Its people were grappling with the trauma of the Cultural Revolution. It wasn't seen as a significant player on any global stage.
But look at China today: the world's second-largest economy, a central force in global trade, diplomacy, technology, and energy. How did this happen?
One of China's boldest moves was sending millions of students abroad. But not to lose them there. To bring them back and use them. While other nations lament brain drain, China builds a pipeline that channels talent into leadership. These became ministers, CEOs, engineers, scientists, and diplomats. And they are there to make decisions, not to be "errand boys." They are integrated into strategic roles with a clear mission: to transform the nation.
From AI labs to state ministries, they lead with global vision and serious local commitment. Because when a country values competence over convenience, it reclaims its future with power and precision.
Did China put "Cold War fossils" in charge of its digital era? No. Yet, it respected its legacy. Prestige didn't mean paralysis.
Now I ask: Is loyalty to the flag enough when the world is led by people loyal to excellence, discipline, and long-term strategy?
Shall we bring ideology back now? Let's unfreeze the partisan boxes, then. Yes, there are brilliant minds in every political field in Mozambique. Trained abroad and also very well educated in the country. We know them.
And I ask: Are the people who swear to serve the homeland today truly the best we have? Do they have the capacity to steer the country in this new and turbulent world order?