Dialogue without blackmail – Mozambique

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Dialogue without blackmail – Mozambique

2:09 CAT | 06 Oct 2016

Students chant slogans during clashes with the South African police protect at Johannesburg's University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, October 4, 2016. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko

Noticias (file photo) / Members of the joint commission seen here in a file photo

Representatives of political parties and civil society in the port city of Nacala, in Nampula province, have asked Renamo and its leader, Afonso Dhlakama, not to make peace the object of blackmail, because this only perpetuates the suffering of Mozambicans.

They maintain that effective and lasting peace can be found through dialogue in the Joint Committee set up to prepare for the meeting between President Nyusi and Renamo leader Afonso Dhlakama.

Speaking to Noticias on the occasion of the Day of Peace and Reconciliation on 4 October, the representative of the Sant’Egidio community in Nacala-Porto said that nothing today justifies ongoing violence 24 years after the signing of the General Peace Agreement.

“In Mozambique, the impression of peace we got 24 years ago is a valuable asset that cannot be wasted by vested interests alien to our society. What should prevail is the common good, despite the tensions that may arise, because the people believe that we must cultivate that same peace every day,” Calisto Albano said.

In turn, the head of the Mozambican Democratic Movement (MDM) Youth League, Dionisio Paulo, said that peace is consolidated by rejecting violence and denying war any legitimacy as a means of achieving political intentions.

“Dialogue reveals that war and misunderstandings are not invincible,” Paulo said.

Frelimo, represented by its head of mobilisation and propaganda in the city, noted that the current military conflict with Renamo is slowing down the development the country had been registering following the signing of the peace agreement, and called for permanent dialogue among Mozambicans as the best way of resolving differences.

“We celebrate today with bloodstains on our roads clothing Mozambican families in mourning because of the armed attacks perpetrated by Renamo, which we condemn,” he said.

He also reaffirmed the openness of Frelimo to dialogue with all stakeholders in the country in order to preserve peace and respect for the constitution.

Source: Noticias