Dhlakama says will only come out of hiding when his security is guaranteed

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Dhlakama says will only come out of hiding when his security is guaranteed

9:51 CAT | 23 Mar 2017

Lusa (File photo) / Afonso Dhlakama

Afonso Dhlakama, president of Renamo, Mozambique’s main opposition party, says he will only leave his hiding place in the center of the country when there are security guarantees, accusing ruling party Frelimo of having tried to kill him in the past.

“My exit will depend on creating the conditions … When security is guaranteed, I can say that even next week, I can leave,” Dhlakama said in a telephone interview with weekly newspaper Canal de Moçambique published yesterday.

Dhlakama said that if Frelimo (Mozambican Liberation Front) assures him that it will not make an attempt on his life again, he will leave the Gorongosa forests.

“I myself, as leader, have to see where I go, go live in Maputo or even in Gorongosa, to campaign from Gorongosa or from Beira or even from Muxúnguè, my homeland,” the Renamo (Mozambican National Resistance) president added.

Afonso Dhlakama has said that, for Renamo, the war is now over, following the extension of the truce between the armed wing of Renamo and the Mozambican Defence and Security Forces (FDS) for a further 60 days from March 3.

“The war, for me, is over, I do not believe we’re going to shoot mortars again. There may be violations (of the truce), there are provocations, so there must be guarantees of security,” Dhlakama said. On Tuesday, the Renamo leader announced the extension of the truce for 60 more days.

Negotiations between the organization and the government for a final peace agreement are ongoing, with the demilitarization of Renamo, depoliticisation of the armed forces and the drafting of a bill for the decentralization of the country’s provinces under discussion.

Peace in Mozambique has been under constant threat in recent years due to disagreements between Frelimo and Renamo. Between 2013 and the end of 2016, Mozambique suffered clashes between the security forces and the armed wing of Renamo, which challenges the outcome of the 2014 electoral process.

Source: Lusa