Mozambique: “Military Junta” claims contacts with government – AIM report

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

Mozambique: “Military Junta” claims contacts with government – AIM report

8:28 CAT | 01 Oct 2019

File photo: VOA Portugues

The self-styled “Renamo Military Junta” has claimed that it is in contact with the Mozambican government to “renegotiate” the peace agreement that President Filipe Nyusi signed on 6 August with Renamo leader Ossufo Momade.

Speaking by telephone with the “Voice of America” (VOA) radio station, the leader of the Junta, Mariano Nhongo, who has also proclaimed himself President of Renamo, said the contacts with the government are being mediated by Swiss ambassador Mirko Manzoni.

He said a list of the Junta’s demands “will reach the hands of the Swiss ambassador on Monday (30 September), and the ambassador will ensure that it reaches the government”.

Nhongo ruled out any possibility of a reconciliation with Momade and the “official” Renamo. He continued to regard Momade as “a traitor”, and had no intention of supporting Momade’s campaign for the presidential elections scheduled for 15 October.

He claimed that the Military Junta “is Renamo”, and would never join forces again with Momade. The agreements that Momade signed with the government “betrayed the organisation”, he said.

Nhongo has called for postponing the elections so that he can run as a presidential candidate. But Renamo has already chosen Momade as its candidate, and it is difficult to see how that decision could possibly be overturned.

Momade derives legitimacy from his election as the party’s leader at a Renamo congress held last January. Nhongo was only “elected” (unopposed) by a handful of guerrillas in a military base in August.

The Nyusi-Momade peace agreement was signed in front of a good number of foreign dignitaries, including Mirko Manzoni, and it cannot be discarded merely because some gun-toting Renamo members don’t like it.

Nhongo claims to represent the entire Renamo military, but in fact nobody knows how many of the former Renamo guerrillas support Nhongo and how many support Momade.

During the election campaign, Momade has proved able to attract huge crowds to his rallies across central and northern Mozambique. The likelihood of Nhongo doing the same must be regarded as slim.

Source: AIM / Voa Portugues