Dhlakama still not registered by Census – AIM report

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Dhlakama still not registered by Census – AIM report

9:21 CAT | 24 Aug 2017

File photo / Afonso Dhlakama

Census brigades have still not been granted access to the bush camp of the rebel movement Renamo, in the central district of Gorongosa, where Renamo leader Afonso Dhlakama is living.

The census ran from 1 to 15 August, with a day’s extension for exceptional cases. According to the spokesperson for the National Statistics Institute (INE), Cirilo Tembe, brigades were able to reach Renamo bases elsewhere in the country and count the people living there.

Also Read: Refusal to cooperate with Census is a crime, warns INE

Tembe said that, if Renamo were to guarantee security conditions, then a brigade would go to the Gorongosa base and register Dhlakama and everyone else living there. Indeed, the INE Sofala provincial delegate would go in person to register Dhlakama.

But time is now running out and there has still been no confirmation from Renamo that a census brigade can visit Dhlakama’s base. The definitive cut-off date is 16 September, for that is when the coverage survey begins to estimate the percentage of omissions in the census.

Also Read: Dhlakama promises to leave his hideout after announcement of Mozambique’s general elections

According to the INE, cited in Thursday’s issue of the independent newssheet “Mediafax”, Renamo knows this. The INE can only hope that Dhlakama will invite the brigade to his base some time in the next few days.

“He knows that the process is under way”, said Tembe. “He is a Mozambican citizen and he lives in this territory. Our desire is that he be included in the process, but we have still received no communication from his party”.

Also Read: Renamo leader Afonso Dhlakama accuses Frelimo of trying to kill him

Tembe warned “once the coverage survey begins, there will be nothing more we can do. We will have to close the data collection phase definitively”.

Meanwhile, there are signs that money intended to pay allowances during the training of members of census brigades in Namarroi district, in the central province of Zambezia, may have been stolen. Some heads of administrative posts and of localities are allegedly involved in the scandal, and are under investigation.

The Zambezia provincial census director, Armando Terenha, cited in Thursday’s issue of the independent daily “O Pais”, said he believes the institutions of justice will severely punish anyone who has stained the good name of the census office.

Also Read: INE to check General Population Census for omissions

Source: AIM