Mozambique: Ex-Renamo guerrillas threaten to close party offices across country

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

Mozambique: Ex-Renamo guerrillas threaten to close party offices across country

12:20 CAT | 15 Jul 2025

FILE - For illustration purposes only. [File photo: DW]

Former Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo) guerrilla fighters announced on Monday that they intend to “permanently” close party regional branches across the country, a National Council having not yet been convened after weeks of silence from the party leadership.

“Starting today, we are once again closing Renamo party branches at all levels until our demands, which are statutory, are met. That is, compliance with the party’s statutes, calling as soon as possible for the convening and holding of an expanded National Council meeting for combatants and other cadres,” João Machava, the former Renamo guerrillas’ spokesperson told a press conference in Maputo.

He added that the date for closing the branches “is up to each province.”

Former Renamo guerrillas announced on June 23 the reopening of the party’s headquarters, closed in previous weeks in protest against the leadership of party president Ossufo Momade, giving the leadership 20 days to move forward with the National Council. This has not happened so far, under threat of reoccupying these spaces.

Renamo previously announced the holding of the first National Council in 2025—it is statutorily required to hold two per year—on March 7 and 8, but this was later postponed without a new date being set. The party leadership has previously acknowledged their obligation to hold two national councils per year, but said that it was not mandatory for them to take place in different semesters.

Yesterday, João Machava said that the resumption of the protest action was the result of the absence of statements from the party leadership, saying that “there has been no statement or approach” and adding that “another step” will be announced within seven days, without providing details.

Like delegations and headquarters across the country, the national headquarters and Momade’s office were closed and occupied by protesting former guerrillas between May 15th and 28th, until they were removed with gunfire and tear gas by the Rapid Intervention Unit, with more than 50 demobilized fighters being taken away by the Mozambican police.

During this Monday’s announcement, the group called on the government and the police to “not interfere in the party’s internal affairs,” warning that any interference could lead to “unwelcome actions.”

“We want to urge the government once again not to interfere in the party’s internal affairs, as this attitude will force or push us to take unwelcome actions. It is important that the government understands that we are also people and, as such, we also feel pain, and this pain will lead us to react, and you can be sure that no one will like it,” Machava warned.

A target of criticism from former guerrillas, Ossufo Momade assumed the presidency of Renamo in January 2019, following the death of Afonso Dhlakama (1953-2018), and was re-elected to the position in May 2024, in a process that was fiercely contested internally.

At issue is the ongoing crisis within Renamo, currently led by former guerrillas demanding Ossufo Momade’s resignation for alleged “mismanagement,” failure to pay pensions and benefits, and the lack of a fund for political training.

Renamo lost its status as the second most-voted-for political force in the October 9 general elections, dropping from 60 seats, which it secured in the 2019 legislative elections, to 28.

Momade was a presidential candidate in the general elections of October 9, 2024, obtaining 6% of the vote, the worst-ever result for a Frelimo candidate, the main opposition force in Mozambique since the first elections in 1994.

For 16 years, Mozambique experienced a civil war, which pitted the government army against Renamo. This war ended with the signing of the General Peace Agreement in Rome in 1992 between then-President Joaquim Chissano and Afonso Dhlakama, Renamo’s historic leader, paving the way for the first elections two years later.

Source: Lusa