Dhlakama says Renamo generals threatened to kill him
By Joseph Hanlon
Renamo head Afonso Dhlakama said he ordered the attack on the police post in Muxúnguè, Sofala
province, Friday 5 April, in which five people were killed. But he said he only did it because former
guerrillas threatened to kill him if he did not.
He was speaking at a press conference Wednesday 10 April at Satungira, about 30km north of
Gorongosa town, and on the edge of the Gorongosa mountain. This was a major Renamo guerrilla
headquarters during the 1978-92 war. Dlakama went there on 17 October 2012 and has not left
since.
Dhalkama’s statement adds weight to assertions in Maputo that he was forced there by former
Renamo generals who are increasingly angry that they received no reward for their involvement in
more than a decade of war and two decades of support of their leader.
In 1993-94 at the end of the war, Renamo held back a significant number of fighters and arms, and
continued to maintain bases – at least in Nampula and Sofala provinces. Those who stayed with
Dhlakama and did not participate in the demobilisation and reintegration process were promised
rewards when Dhlakama was elected President of Mozambique – which never happened.
Dhlakama also alleges that those who decided to join the new joint army were marginalised. At his
press conference, he said “of 3500 army officer trained abroad, none were former Renamo
guerrillas.” Those who hold senior rank are not included in decision-making, and are often pushed
aside as “advisors”, he added.
President Armando Guebuza has increasingly been criticised for trying to marginalise the
opposition, and for the state appearing to give preference to Frelimo members for jobs, promotions,
contracts and loans under the district development fund (the “7 million”). The gap between rich and
poor widens and an elite is living ever more ostentatiously. Many posts and sinecures on state
companies and boards have been created for senior Frelimo people.
Renamo wants a share, and it believes it has a right to a reward from signing the 1992 peace
accord. Its leadership needs patronage posts to which Renamo – and not the Frelimo government
– appoints and thus rewards its supporters. One of the main reasons for Renamo demands to
politicise the election administration machinery is that it creates hundreds of patronage jobs.
MOZAMBIQUE
News reports & clippings
215
14 April 2013
Editor: Joseph Hanlon ( j.hanlon@open.ac.uk)
MOZAMBIQUE 215 – News reports & clippings – 14 April 2013 –
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Since the end of the war two decades ago, Frelimo has kept the army small and largely ineffective
– which has the advantages of removing a possible military challenge, as has happened in other
African countries, and also of reducing the budget. And the military has become a safe home for
Frelimo supporters.
An unusually pointed front page editorial in the government-owned daily
Noticias (12 Apr 2013)
said: “The crux of the issue is the material promises made to old Renamo guerrillas, including
those poorly reintegrated.
… We are convinced that peace will be maintained by answering the
following question: What to do with the huge number of Renamo men in the bush who are
frustrated, vulnerable, manipulable and aimless?” And it continues: “We are convinced that the
solution to this problem exceeds that capacity of Renamo,” and thus the state has a responsibility.
(Press reports in all the main media, including
Noticias and O Pais 11 and 12 Apr 2013 and
Savana
12 Apr 2013.)
Rosário as intermediary
& Renamo demands:
police & election law
Lourenço do Rosário, rector of ISPU (Instituto Superior Politécnico e Universitário) is serving as
intermediary between Dhlakama and President Armando Guebuza, and brought about a defacto
cease fire and de-escalation, the Renamo President told the press conference. (There was no
comment on this from the government.)
Renamo representatives met with the ministries of interior and defence on Friday 12 April.
The escalation came when Renamo said it would prevent elections this year and began to hold
large meetings of supporters to promote this. Riot police (FIR) then raided two such gatherings,
using tear gas in Muxúnguè, and Renamo ex-guerrillas than attacked the riot police camp in
Muxúnguè, killing four police (one attacker was also killed). There was a subsequent attack on the
main north-south road, killing three people. This caused real shock in Mozambique, because a key
Renamo tactic in the war was attacking road traffic.
Dhlakama demanded the release of 15 Renamo members captured in the raid on the Muxúnguè
police post, and the withdrawal of soldiers, police and riot police from near Renamo offices and his
base in Satungira.
Finally, Dhlakama demanded that the electoral law be changed to create “parity” between Renamo
and Frelimo in the National Elections Commission (CNE, Comissão Nacional de Eleições), and to
give Renamo an effective veto. Under the new law the CNE has 13 members, with parties
represented in proportion to seats in parliament (5 Frelimo, 2 Renamo and 1 MDM), plus 1 judge, 1
prosecutor, and 3 members of civil society. The CNE chooses its own president (chair) from the 3
civil society representatives. Dhlakama demands equal numbers of Frelimo and Renamo members
and no civil society – he says civil society is dominated by Frelimo and that Mozambique will not
have a real civil society for 30 years.
Dhlakama’s demand is for a “consensus” electoral law which would accept earlier Renamo
proposals to politicise the entire electoral process, and which would lead to paralysis in the CNE
and make it very difficult to hold elections, so these will not be accepted. However, “civil society”
members of the past national and provincial election commissions and many of those proposed for
this year have Frelimo links, So it would be possible to reduce the number of civil society members
and increase the number of Renamo members.
MOZAMBIQUE 215 – News reports & clippings – 14 April 2013 –
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Comment
Backing himself
into a corner
Joseph Hanlon
Afonso Dhlakama told the assembled press “I am the best political-military leader in the world”
because he survived 20 years of Frelimo persecution. (Noticias 11 Apr 2013, O Pais 12 Apr 2013)
Sitting on the mountainside without mobile telephone links or electricity, Dhlakama is increasingly
losing touch and appears to have backed himself into a corner with no obvious way out.
Dhlakama appears to genuinely believe that he only lost the four elections through fraud and that if
there were enough Renamo members in the electoral apparatus he would win – even though a
more politicised electoral systems in 2004 did not help him.
Meanwhile, he has failed to covert the former guerrilla movement into an effective political party.
He has refused to decentralise, taking even quite small decisions himself, and has forced out of the
party those who show leadership and organising skills.
Renamo did not win the war and in the Rome peace talks was forced to accept the government
and constitution as legitimate – there was no “transitional government”. That left Renamo in a weak
position and led it to sensibly develop boycott and blocking tactics to win concessions, both in the
peace talks and in the first elections.
But the tactic had a limited life; boycotts failed twice. In 1998 local elections went ahead without
Renamo. In 2000 after close national elections, Renamo was offered the chance to name three
provincial governors – which would have changed the face of Mozambican politics and made
Renamo a central player. But Dhlakama turned the offer down – he said six governors or nothing,
and gained nothing. That was the last time he had serious influence.
In 2009 Dhlakama retreated to Nampula and last year to Gorongosa, ever further from the political
centre. A more serious and better organised opposition party, MDM, has been formed by the
organisers pushed out of Renamo. Three municipal by-elections went ahead without Renamo, and
one was won by MDM. Now Renamo says it will not participate in municipal and national elections
this year and next, and indeed will try to block them, if impossible demands to change the elections
laws are not met.
There seem to be three alternative ways forward:
+ Blocking has been Renamo’s historic tactic, and it could try to disrupt the two month electoral
registration process, which starts 25 May. That will not be popular nationally or internationally.
+ Simply encouraging Renamo members not to register is to guarantee that MDM will win in
November in all cities with strong opposition support, increasing the marginalisation of Renamo.
+ Actively participating would mean starting very late. Having boycotted electoral processes for
more than a year it is becoming increasingly difficult for Renamo to organise registration and
election campaigns. Although Renamo could split the opposition vote in some key cities and force
a second round vote, a better organised MDM is likely to win out and be in a position to win more
parliamentary seats next year.
Having only the strategy of boycott, Dhlakama has backed Renamo into an electoral corner that
has no easy way out.
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MOZAMBIQUE 215 – News reports & clippings – 14 April 2013 –
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