Dhlakama will receive official funeral – Watch

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Dhlakama will receive official funeral – Watch

9:02 CAT | 06 May 2018

The Mozambican government has granted Afonso Dhlakama, leader of the main opposition party, the rebel movement Renamo, who died on Thursday, an official funeral.

The decision emerged from an extraordinary meeting of the Council of Ministers (Cabinet) held on Friday night.

The government spokesperson, the Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism, Ana Comoana, gave no details of the plans for the funeral, but said that a government commission, headed by Justice Minister Isaque Chande, has been appointed to discuss all necessary support with the Dhlakama family and with Renamo.

The official funeral is not a favour, but is covered by the 2014 law on the rights and duties of the leader of second most voted party (in other words, the leader of the opposition, although this term is not used). The law gives the leader of the second party the right to an official funeral, with state honours.

Comoana also announced that, in order to deal with the consequences of Dhlakama’s death, President Filipe Nyusi has postponed his state visits to Norway and Finland.

According to a report in the online edition of the independent daily “O Pais”, the Dhlakama family has announced that the funeral will take place next Wednesday in Dhlakama’s birthplace, Mangunde, in Chibabava district, in the central province of Sofala. Dhlakama’s father is the regulo (traditional chief) of Mangunde.

Renamo has so far said nothing about who will succeed Dhlakama as President of the party. The implications Dhlakama’s death might have for the peace talks that he was holding with Nyusi are also currently unclear.

The Renamo Political Commission met in Beira on Friday and issued a call for “calm and courage” to Renamo members and to the public at large.

Dhlakama’s body was transported over land from the military base in Gorongosa district, where the Renamo leader had been living since late 2015, and arrived in Beira before dawn on Friday morning. The body is currently in the morgue at Beira Central Hospital.