Mozambique: Six months of no subsidy for 989 demobilised Renamo fighters – O País

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Mozambique: Six months of no subsidy for 989 demobilised Renamo fighters – O País

6:41 CAT | 10 Aug 2021

Photo; O País

A total of 989 Renamo fighters demobilised under the DDR process last year have been without pay for about six months, according to the party’s secretary-general.

When the combatants – 304 from Savane, 251 from Mangomonhe and 434 from Vunduzi, all in Sofala province – were demobilised, a monthly subsidy was fixed according to their rank.

This was to last for one year, during which time the government would deal with the pension process, so that, at the end of that time, supported by the United Nations, they would automatically receive state pensions for life.

“It’s been six months now, and there are no salaries. The question we put to the government is: how are the combatants going to survive and support their families?” Renamo secretary-general André Magibire asks.

For the demobilised, the lack of subsidies is compromising their reintegration.

“Without salaries for about six months, the solution is to contract debts, which are now choking us. We live in rented houses, and every day we have to make excuses to our landlords. Our children have stopped going to school, because we are unable to buy school materials, much less to pay for transportation. We ask the government to urgently resolve this situation, in order to safeguard our reintegration into society,” said Janito Muata, speaking on behalf of the demobilised.

The Renamo secretary-general and the demobilised members of the ‘partridge’ party were speaking to the press in Dondo district, Sofala province, after a meeting aimed at finding solutions to the problem.

“The first proposal is that the United Nations should resume the payment of subsidies this week, for an indefinite period, until pensions for the demobilised are regularised,” Magibire said.

The second proposal put forward by Renamo is related to project financing. “Before the demobilisation, the DDR groups were in all the bases, surveying the projects that each one would like to implement, after passing on to civilian life. All demobilised people chose their projects, but, unfortunately, none of them have been implemented to date. We want the promises to be fulfilled immediately,” Magibire insisted.

In the end, Magibire asked the former guerrillas, who have been without pay for about six months, to remain calm, and promised them that the party leadership would continue to pressure the government and the United Nations into finding a solution to the problem.

Source: O País