Dhlakama promised to come out of hiding before Mozambique’s general elections


nsnbc : Renamo leader Alfonso Dhlakama promised, on Thursday, that he would come out of hiding after the announcement of the date of the next general elections. The statement came after a meeting between Dhlakama and President Felipe Nyusi on August 6.

Alfonso Dhlakama_Mozambique_Renamo_2016_(archives)In his first public statement since his meeting with President Felipe Nyusi earlier this month, the leader of the Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo) explained “details” that were blocking peace negotiations were “set aside”, particularly with regard to the decentralisation and integration of the armed wing of the party in the army.

“I chose the place of the meeting in Gorongosa, because I dominate it, even though the [state] military positions remain,” said Dhlakama to reporters. He added that it took more than two months to build sufficient trust for the meeting which was kept secret and only announced after it had taken place.

Dhlakama, the leader of Mozambique’s largest opposition party and illegal insurgency, went into hiding in his “not so very secret, secret bush headquarters” in 2012. He has since then repeatedly claimed the government and military wanted to assassinate him. However, even local journalists could with relative easy establish exactly where Dhlakama was and is, so many argue that the implied claim that Mozambican military intelligence couldn’t find him because he is hiding is borderline ridiculous PR – but many of the people voting for Renamo are buying into it.

Felipe Nyusi and Alfonso Dhlakama during a meeting in Sofala earlier this month.

Felipe Nyusi and Alfonso Dhlakama during a meeting in Sofala earlier this month.

Dhlakama said that it took several hours of negotiations to reach “compromises” for peace, especially on the “speed and seriousness” of the discussion on the election of provincial governors and the integration of Renamo’s armed wing in the army and the various branches of the police and secret services. On decentralisation, Afonso Dhlakama explained that by the end of the year, a bill must be submitted to the Assembly of the Republic allowing the election of provincial governors, along with a revision of the constitution to reduce the powers of the head of state.

The Renamo leader denies asking for seats in regional governments. “They are not Renamo governors, they are governors of all the parties that run for the elections including Frelimo,” Dhlakama said, adding that President Nyusi is expected to announce the date of the 2019 general elections some 18 months in advance, with the law already passed.

Regarding the integration of Renamo’s armed wing into the army, Dhlakama said that a model was discussed to guarantee a non-partisan army and, after the implementation of this model, guerrillas stationed in the provinces would be “assembled and demobilised”, then integrated in the police and other branches of the security forces.

“I gave the head of state to understand that the concern to create an army is not in Renamo’s interest, it is in the interest of the security of the country,” Dhlakama said, adding that a unified army would prevent coups and ambushes or the provision of political services by the military, especially the persecution of the opposition. “I believe this will work; they will be integrated. And if they are integrated soon, and we are satisfied with the non-military, technical-professional army, we can even station our military in the provinces, and select some, in good health and the right age, to integrate in the police and UIR (Rapid Intervention Units),” Dhlakama said.

Following the 1992 peace accord between Frelimo and Renamo that ended a 16-year-long civil war in 1993, both Frelimo and Renamo were guaranteed to have 15,000 troops in the national army each. However, Renamo never used its quota. Later on, after the army was formally established and up until recent years, Renamo complains and insist on being guaranteed more officer posts. The Frelimo government, for its part, insisted Renamo should have used its quota earlier and that officers in the military are promoted according to their qualifications and not according to party affiliations. Frelimo critics, however, maintain that the military is dominated by the party.

As for the future, Dhlakama announced that he would leave the jungle and return to political life after these two issues were “dispatched”. Renamo did not recognise the result of the last presidential elections giving victory to the Liberation Front of Mozambique (Frelimo) and Filipe Nyusi. Renamo suffered severe losses in the last local, regional, parliamentary and presidential elections.

CH/L – nsnbc 18.08.2017



Source Article from https://nsnbc.me/2017/08/18/85599/

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