Contact group visits Renamo in Gorongosa – AIM report

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Contact group visits Renamo in Gorongosa – AIM report

6:54 CAT | 14 Dec 2018

In file CoM

Members of the Contact Group of foreign ambassadors, set up to facilitate the dialogue between the Mozambican government and the former rebel movement Renamo, visited the central district of Gorongosa on Thursday for discussions with Ossufo Momade, the interim coordinator of the Renamo Political Commission.

According to a terse statement from the chairperson of the Contact Group, Swiss ambassador Mirko Manzoni, the meeting “was an opportunity to exchange points of view on relevant themes, namely the peace process under way, the DDR (demobilisation, disarmament and reintegration of members of the Renamo militia), and the elections”.

Manzoni said the Contact Group “was pleased with the dialogue with Renamo and with the confirmation of its commitment to maintain the peace and to implement the memorandum of understanding (signed between Momade and President Filipe Nyusi in August)”.

The group believed Renamo was committed to disarmament, demobilisation and “a process of reintegration with dignity, seeking the common objective of definitive peace for all Mozambicans, which requires good will on both sides”.

Manzoni said “the international community recognises that the (presidential, parliamentary and provincial) elections of next year are an integral part of the maintenance of peace and democracy and, to this end, will make efforts to work kin close collaboration with all the parties and support the process”.

Manzoni’s statement made no mention of Renamo’s protests against the gross illegalities that marred the 10 October municipal elections in at least four municipalities (Marromeu, Moatize, Monapo and Alto Molocue).

Manzoni concluded his statement with a call for “demonstrable positive steps, which represent advances in good faith, in the process of bringing the country to a new era of development, with the inclusion of all Mozambicans”.

Manzoni was accompanied to Gorongosa by the co-chair of the Contact Group, US Ambassador Dean Pittman, the Ambassador of the European Union, Antonio Gaspar, and the High Commissioner of Botswana, Gobe Pitso.

The latest step in implementing the agreement between Nyusi and Momade was the appointment of three Renamo officers to senior positions in the general staff of the Mozambican Armed Forces (FADM).

But to date Renamo has surrendered none of its guns, and nor have any members of its militia been demobilised. Indeed Renamo has not even state how many men it has under arms.

Source: AIM