Dhlakama expects mediators to be discussed this week – Video

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Dhlakama expects mediators to be discussed this week – Video

12:17 CAT | 21 Jun 2016

File photo / Afonso Dhlakama

Speaking by phone from the Gorongosa forests last Friday, Renamo leader Afonso Dhlakama said that he hoped talks about mediators would be held this week, and agreed with the president, Filipe Nyusi, that the priority was not the meeting between the two, but the consensus-building by teams set up by the government and Renamo.

“When everything is cooked, then we can sponsor and embrace,” said the Renamo leader, explaining that in the contact he had with the president between Wednesday and Thursday, the two had reached consensus on several matters.

“At the request of President Nyusi, we talked and came to the understanding that we had to find solutions as Mozambicans, and that weapons do not solve anything,” the Renamo leader said, noting that Filipe Nyusi had accepted international mediation, with potential mediators including the European Union, South Africa and the Catholic Church.

Dhlakama said that the two parties had already clarified their preferred points of dialogue, and added that the negotiating teams were to be strengthened.

“Renamo has two points: the governance of the six provinces won by Renamo [in the 2014 elections] and the appointment of Renamo military cadres to key positions in the military. The government also has two points. The first, which will be highlighted during the negotiations, is the immediate cessation of military hostilities. The second point is the disarmament of Renamo. Given that the teams that negotiated the agenda consists of three people, we agreed that we could extend that by three more, with Renamo presenting three names to bring them to six, and the government also having six,” he said.

The Renamo leader’s announcement came a day after the president had personally announced that he had accepted the presence of mediators in the political dialogue.

The Renamo leader has demanded guarantees of his safety, and despite announcements of consensus has not promised to stop the attacks without assurances that he and his men will not themselves be attacked. For there to be a cessation of military hostilities, Dhlakama says, there must be good will between the two parties.

“It is Frelimo that has moved military contingents more than 1,500 kilometres to hunt Dhlakama. Everything can be negotiated so that there is, in fact, tranquility on the roads and in families. Ceasefire means stop. You stop and someone is hiding. You think that’s it, you stop, and he will catch and kill you,” said the Renamo leader, while adding that “Everything is possible if there is good will on both sides”.