”I was prepared by Dhlakama”, claims Bissopo

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

”I was prepared by Dhlakama”, claims Bissopo

3:53 CAT | 28 Dec 2018

Manuel Bissopo - RENAMO

In this interview with DW, Manuel Bissopo says he feels prepared for the position of president of RENAMO and is sure to gather support in all wings of the party.

Regarding strategic plans for RENAMO, Bissopo prefers not to speak for now.

Below is the verbatim of the interview with DW:

DW Africa: Is it confirmed that Manuel Bissopo is going to run for the leadership of RENAMO?

Manuel Bissopo (MB): Yes I confirm. It is a great opportunity to share this feeling that results from a great reflection of (the time) that I have lived with the late President Afonso Dhlakama, recognising the investment he made in me, in the management of this party, which is a great party, a mass party. I feel that after his physical disappearance, I have a moral obligation to continue with his project and to ensure that the country continues to grow with acceptable levels of democracy. That’s why I confirm, I’m going to be a candidate.

DW Africa: Does it meet all the requirements demanded by the party?

MB: Yes. For a long time I did not speak, because I thought I had an administrative responsibility and there could be a conflict of interest. I first waited for the definition of profile requirements by the National Council that was held a week or two ago. According to the profile defined, I meet these conditions: I am a former combatant, I have more than five years of active politics, I am secretary general, anyway…I feel that I am within what is required by the profile.

DW Africa: Do you feel like the dauphin of Afonso Dhlakama?

MB: I feel like a dauphin, in fact, because everything I am today as a politician was because of his effort. He conveyed to me experiences and convinced me that there are difficult things, but that we have to sacrifice ourselves for them. I was prepared by him. They are strong teachings that I cannot waste, otherwise I will not be useful to this party. The party is people and people build up in the middle of many sacrifices and after a long time. I am a person who in the last six years has been always close to him, planning and executing everything that is a product of RENAMO. That is why I am committed to the cause he has defended until his death, so I have to present my candidacy as a way to give the party an opportunity to pursue…the ideals of President Dhlakama.

DW Africa: Your name was appointed as the favorite to temporarily lead RENAMO after the death of Afonso Dhlakama. Has there ever been any movement in this direction?

MB: Internally, there was not. When we arrived at the mountains with the intention of helping the president, who unfortunately was already dead, in fact there was a compromise term due to the obligation of the General Staff of RENAMO. I, the coordinator of the negotiations, and the General Staff of RENAMO signed the Peace Commitment addressed to the President of the Republic. All that the late president had assumed in the agreements had to prevail, like truces and peace. But internal opinion felt that General Ossufo should be the leader for being a member of the political commission. I did not find it a problem, because as Secretary-General, I needed to continue to do what we had planned.

In fact, we managed to organize ourselves for the logistics of the October municipal elections and had the results we had because of the mega fraud. There was abuse and total disregard for the rules of democracy on the part of the Government through the Liberation Front of Mozambique (FRELIMO). It was clear that the population, the great majority of the Mozambican people in the urban centers, demonstrated that they have confidence in RENAMO.

In this congressional process, I think the cadres also have a say. I have my performance and the cadres know this. As a result, I have faith that the cadres will not allow me to waste my experience to bring a younger party, a modern party, a women’s party, a strong party to the next challenges, able to maintain democracy in Mozambique.

DW Africa: Regarding the other names mentioned for this race, Mr. Bissopo has the advantage of having consolidated politically and militarily, but needs support from your party. With whom do you count on?

MB: I count on all those with whom I shared activities over six years. I’m talking about the whole structure. I communicate with them all and I feel that the cadres, at various levels, feel that my role was very useful. If I did not lodge my application, it would be a risk to my name, because it would cut through the expectations of the cadres. I feel that the cadres have the impression that I am very well prepared to continue the ideals of president Dhlakama.

DW Africa: What does Mr. Bissopo have to offer to RENAMO? What projects do you have in mind?

MB: The projects are many, but some are also strategic and cannot be divulged. But to answer your question, a major project is to bring to RENAMO elements that, although planned, never came to be executed. For example, the strongest organisation from the internal point of view, to seek serious investments in the party structure, the formation of the cadres, whether old or newly formed and are being formed, to enable this party, the medium and long term, to have its own capacity to impose itself in the process of electoral control.

We, as a party, aim to come to power and be able to demonstrate how we think the country should be governed. To do so, our democratic system requires that we come to power peacefully. This means eliminating any type of fraud, such as those that have characterised our electoral processes. For this, let’s not blame the other side. I speak for myself, for the inside, for the party. We need to strengthen human resources, training them, creating conditions so that in the electoral processes, there is full control so FRELIMO cannot steal. On the other side, in the population, in the members and sympathizers, nothing is missing. People have been worn out over time. They always vote, but RENAMO’s (vote) is always stolen.

DW Africa: The militarisation of RENAMO is understood to be its great ace, but there is also a political group that practically becomes invisible in the party when there are moments of crisis … If you reach the leadership of RENAMO, how do you want to balance these two forces?

MB: I honestly will not do things other than those my master taught me. The militarised RENAMO issue is a theory. After the General Peace Agreement, the issue of RENAMO still having its men is not the will of RENAMO. Until now, RENAMO has weapons, whatever happens, because, in fact, the Government, after the 1992 agreements, did not have the political will to comply with the agreements. It was clear that RENAMO’s men would be integrated into the police and this was not done. Many other things agreed were not fulfilled. This forced RENAMO to always have some residual men. But we cannot speak of RENAMO as a militarized party. It’s a civil party. As you can see, president Dhlakama never led the party as a uniformed party. He has always been a civilian as a person, a leader who runs a political party. I’ll follow the same example.

In the military matter, we have processes already very advanced. For me, both a military man and a civilian, all are cadres of the party, because they are driven by an interest and a cause that is to defend the will of this country to be led with transparency and democracy. I do not emphasise the civil part and the military part, because in my exercise, I deal with everyone in the same way. So I will not have any difficulties dealing with a person who has been a military man and someone who has never been a military man. For me, the statute is for everyone, the rules are for everyone, but everyone is a cadre of the party and everyone has commitments to what is the cause of the party.

DW Africa: You dominated the long process of peace negotiations between RENAMO and FRELIMO. Is that a great asset to you in this race?

MB: No, because in this race, the pivot is not dominating military matters. In this race, the pivot is the capacity, it is the experience, it is the knowledge of the party in terms of forecasting everything that is important, to remain strong politically and to come to power through electoral processes that the law determines.

DW Africa: But I was referring to the process of peace negotiations, this is a process that you master. This has a weight at the moment you want to apply. This is probably a crucial issue for RENAMO.

MB: Yes, I as Secretary-General know our positions. Throughout this whole time, I have clear mastery, because I was part of the planning and management of many political and administrative activities, to effectively ensure the success of the negotiations. I’m talking about the agenda items. In this last round, we had two points from the agenda that were defined with the late president, which is decentralisation and military issues. We know that a party like this cannot have two armies. I know what the gains are, not for RENAMO, but for the whole country, for Mozambicans, if this whole process is conducted in the spirit as it was idealised with the late president.

Source: DW