Dhlakama’s father does not know if he can help pacify the country

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

Dhlakama’s father does not know if he can help pacify the country

2:10 CAT | 20 Apr 2017

Voa / Sofala Governor, Helena Taipo, with Régulo Mangumbe, Afonos Dhlakama's father

Sofala governor Helena Taipo visited Traditional Chief [´Régulo´] Mangunde, father of Renamo leader Afonso Dhlakama, in a historic small village in Chibabava district, Sofala, at the weekend, and asked him to intercede with the Renamo leader, to proclaim the end of the political military conflict.

Régulo Mangunde said he could not guarantee to persuade his son to proclaim a permanent end to Mozambique’s political-military conflict. Mangunde said he was surprised by the governor’s positive visit, but promised nothing, noting that he too was engaged in the well-being of the population as regards free circulation.

“They (government and Renamo) were meeting and negotiating everything, and I am happy, but still afraid because the talks are not over. I came from hiding, where I went to out of fear, when I heard that it [the situation] was normalised, and I was told that I should appease the fear of the population of my chieftaincy [‘regulado’],” he said.

Dhlakama’s father claimed to be honoured by the governor’s visit, but at the same time worried about her real intentions, saying “maybe they came to make sure that I am the real Régulo Mangunde himself, so I am in fear here”.

Governor Taipo asked Régulo Mangunde to broadcast a message of peace to the population, as a result of the current negotiations between the government and Renamo, and requested a further commitment to the development of the province.

“I know that Régulo Mangunde was not living here because of the armed conflict, but I want to reassure Mangunde that under the president’s guidance all the régulos will have the same treatment, and to feel at ease here in his regulado [chieftaincy],” Taipo said.

In November 2013, troops from the Army and Rapid Intervention Force (UIR) failed to capture the Renamo leader’s father at his home in Mangunde, having searched all the huts and scattered blankets and clothes in the yard.

On 7 November 2013, an armoured truck heading for his home in Mangunde, about 45 kilometres northeast of Muxúnguè, crossed paths with the régulo as he was being evacuated but failed to recognise him and he managed to escape authorities.

The government did not use the occasion of this visit to apologise to the régulo for the ‘hunt’.

Source: Voa Portugues