Elias Dhlakama: “Renamo has gone from elephant to ant”

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Elias Dhlakama: “Renamo has gone from elephant to ant”

3:19 CAT | 13 Oct 2020

File photo: DW

In an interview with DW Africa, Elias Dhlakama says that the situation at Renamo has gone from bad to worse, and confirms that he will run for the party presidency again, because he wants Renamo to “become strong again”.

Just over a year and a half ago, Elias Dhlakama, the younger brother of the late leader of the Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo), Afonso Dhlakama, ran for the party presidency at the fourth party congress, which voted Ossufo Momade president.

Elias Dhlakama says the party’s current situation is going from bad to worse, reaffirming in an interview with DW Africa that he will run for the leadership of Renamo again, in order to make the party strong again.

Elias Dhlakama accuses the party’s current leadership of having removed all delegates close to Afonso Dhlakama, as well as those who supported his candidacy at the last congress. For this politician, there was clearly a “witch hunt”.

DW Africa: In January 2019, a few months after moving to the reserve from the Defence Forces of Mozambique, you were a candidate for the presidency of Renamo. One year later, how do you assess the party’s situation?

Elias Dhlakama (ED): It goes from bad to worse.

DW Africa: What is it due to?

ED: I take into account the general elections of 2019, in which we were counting on comfortable victory, but instead lost in all the places where we had always won. If it were 2024 now, I don’t believe we would see even one [Renamo] administrator elected in any district. And the members must understand that we must unite, so that the party can be as it was before. When talking about Renamo, one was talking about an elephant, but today we are talking about an ant.

DW Africa: You said a few days ago that you were going to run again for the presidency of Renamo. Why?

ED: I want to bring innovations. I have support within Renamo. My ambition is not based on the fact that Afonso Dhlakama was my brother. We do not want to stop young people who want to come to Renamo. There are a lot of people who want to come to Renamo, but have been watching from the outside what is happening at Renamo. This is not the party they expect; this is not Renamo.

DW Africa: This plan of yours, is it some kind of salvation of Afonso Dhlakama’s ideals?

ED: Yes, but not as my brother; as the legacy of President Dhlakama, my president. This intention is not just for Elias Dhlakama, it is for all Renamo members who want to see the party become strong again.

Today, there is talk of the Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR) process of Renamo men. But those who have made themselves available [for transition to civilian life], are living in the woods. They are being chased and they are being killed.

DW Africa: You said that there is an attempt to make Renamo disappear. Why?

ED: In 2018, Renamo won in eight municipalities, namely the city of Nampula, Quelimane, Nacala, Cuamba, Angoche, Malema, Ilha de Mocambique and Chiúre. But a year later, in the 2019 general elections, we lost in these municipalities. The question is, “Those who voted for us in 2018, where did they go? What happened?” It means that we were unable to catalyse and consolidate the gains we had in the municipal elections.

DW Africa: Do you think that the current party leadership is not able to manage the processes?

ED: Sure. This is evident.

Witch hunt

DW Africa: There are voices that say that in the party there is an attempt to remove all the people who had close ties to Afonso Dhlakama. Do you also share this vision?

ED: Indeed, that is what is happening. There were many dismissals of provincial and district delegates, which contradicted the electoral manifestos at the party congress held in Gorongosa in January 2019. Especially because Renamo was already called [Renamo Unida] at that time. The party should have met again, but this is not what happened. After the congress, we saw many dismissals of delegates who did not support the winning candidate. We said that this was a witch hunt.

DW Africa: Your name appeared months ago through a notification from the Attorney’s Office of the Republic of Mozambique as a supporter of the Renamo Military Junta, led by General Mariano Nhongo. What do you have to say about this?

ED: Elias Dhlakama has nothing to do with that. I don’t want war. I grew up in the war. I’m fed up with the war – that’s why I left the army. Nor am I in a position to finance a war.

DW Africa: And in your opinion, why were you associated with General Nhongo?

ED: This is to cut the legs from under me, politically. Because people are very afraid of the name Dhlakama. They think that Afonso Dhlakama’s political spirit has incarnated in someone, and that person is Elias. And because they don’t want to hear that name again in Mozambican political life.

DW Africa: Do you feel that this is political persecution?

ED: It is total and complete intimidation.

DW Africa: Recently your nephew, Henriques Dhlakama, announced his intention to run for president of the Republic of Mozambique. How did the Dhlakama family greet this?

ED: Henriques is a Mozambican citizen. He is of legal age. He is responsible for what he does and doesn’t do. As a family, we never had a meeting where he presented his intention. But he is free to do so, as long as it is within the limits of the Mozambican law.

DW Africa: How do you assess the war situation in Cabo Delgado?

ED: It is total neglect. In Mozambique, we have State Intelligence and Security Services (SISE). Where were these services in that situation? When the conflict started in Cabo Delgado, it was noticed. The material that supplied those groups came from the barracks – bazookas were found in bales of clothing. But I never heard of any measures taken against the individuals in those barracks. They let the situation grow, and today it is up to their necks. Soon, we will hear those terrorists calling for Cabo Delgado’s independence. What will become of Mozambique?