Mozambique: President Nyusi heads to Riyadh for Saudi-Africa Summit
Renamo guerrillas opposing Ossufo Momade. [File photo: Voa Portugues]
The self-proclaimed Renamo Military Junta will hold a national conference to elect its president on Gorongosa next Saturday. They reiterate that the current party leader Ossufo Momade has no legitimacy to speak on behalf of Renamo.
Lieutenant General Mariano Nhongo, in a VOA exclusive, said that the delegates to the conference, mostly provincial commanders of the Renamo military wing, began arriving in Gorongosa on Monday.
He further said that invitations had been extended to representatives of political parties, civil society, churches and the international community who are “interested in supporting our project to reorganise Renamo.”
Nhongo described as the situation within Renamo as “very serious”, mainly because “practically all the officers of Afonso Dhlakama’s leadership were excluded from the demobilisation process” agreed between the Mozambican government and Renamo as part of the peace dialogue.
“Virtually all officers from the time of President Dhlakama are being detained. That is why we are holding a conference to choose a new president, because we have a lot of problems with Ossufo Momade,” Nhongo said.
The Maputo newspaper ‘O País’ last week reported that Renamo had started talks aimed at bridging the gap with the Nhongo group.
Still linked to the disagreement within Renamo, the leader of the Independent Party of Mozambique, Yaqub Sibindy, told VOA that he had been looking into the military junta issue with members of the Contact Group assisting the negotiating process between the government and Renamo.
By André Batista
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