Mariano Nhongo threats: “This is a state matter,” Renamo argues

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Mariano Nhongo threats: “This is a state matter,” Renamo argues

1:32 CAT | 28 Aug 2019

'Renamo Military Junta' in the Gorongosa mountains. [File photo: DW]

On Monday (26/08) Mariano Nhongo threatened to use armed attacks to make the October 15 elections impossible. For Renamo this “is a matter for the state, which must assure the defence and tranquillity of the country”.

Twenty-four hours after Mariano Nhongo, the president of the self-proclaimed ‘Renamo Military Junta’, threatened, in an interview with DW Africa, to prevent the holding of the October 15 general elections in Mozambique, the Mozambican National Resistance [Renamo], through its spokesman José Manteigas says that issuing the threat is a criminal act.

“This is a matter of state,” Manteigas says. “It is the state that has to guarantee the defence and tranquillity of the country.” He denies that Renamo leader Ossufo Momade was not elected by the [Renamo] military, stating that “they [the military] are represented in Renamo’s internal organs.”

The spokesman of the also-called ‘Partridge’ party calls on the self-proclaimed military junta not to resort to force of arms to make its claims feasible.

DW Africa: In an exclusive interview with DW Africa this Monday (26.08), the president of the self-proclaimed Renamo Military Junta, Mariano Nhongo, promised to make the general elections impossible, because the party he claims to be leader of was “supposedly” excluded from the electoral process. How are we to deal with this situation of having a party with two leaders?

Mosambik Maputo | Renamo-Partei | JosÃ© Manteigas, Sprecher (DW/R. da Silva) — José Manteigas – Renamo spokesman

José Manteigas (JM): The Renamo recognised in the Mozambican legal system as a political party is the one led by Ossufo Momade. Now, if Mariano Nhongo will not allow the elections, that is not our position. We will compete in all constituencies of the country, in the presidentials as well as for the provincial assemblies. This is the challenge ahead, and we have always said that we are focused on the elections.

DW Africa: But Mr Mariano Nhongo threatens to ambush any political party campaigning. Does that worry you or not?

JM: It does worry us. But attacking defenceless people, public entities and personalities is a crime. If Mr. Mariano Nhongo has any claim to make, we think it should not be through arms, because this is an affront to the Mozambican democratic rule of law.

DW-Africa: What is Renamo’s public stance on these threats from Mr Mariano Nhongo?

JM: This matter brings us to state intervention. It is the state that has to guarantee the defence, security and tranquillity of the country. The Defence and Security Forces will be in a position to deal with this situation.

DW Africa: Nhongo accuses Ossufo Momade of not being elected by the military. The question we ask is: What do Renamo’s statutes say? Do the military elect the party president in parallel?

JM: Renamo is a political party. Therefore, election to its organs is made at its Congress. The party gathered in the Serra da Gorongosa between 15 and 17 January of this year, at the 6th Congress, and elected Ossufo Momade as president of Renamo and its party organs. Hence, any act performed in the margins and without agreement of these organs is not the work of the party. And its doers are not identified with Renamo.

DW Africa: Were the military entitled to vote at the congress which elected Ossufo Momade as president of Renamo?

JM: There is a particularity about this congress. First, it was held in the Gorongosa mountains, and the Renamo General Staff were there. Second, the party organs also include the military, such as Jossefo de Sousa (member of the party’s Political Commission) and many others (…). Therefore, the military is integrated into party organs, so no one can say they are excluded.

Mariano Nhongo – leader of the self-proclaimed “Renamo Military Junta”

DW Africa: Mariano Nhongo says he is in talks with Renamo deputies in the Assembly of the Republic, to set up a commission which will be in charge of renegotiating DDR [Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration] with the Mozambican government. Which deputies are these, and how is it that they are following orders from Mr. Ossufo Momade and at the same time as from Mariano Nhongo?

JM: This is a statement which leaves much to be desired. I don’t know which members he is dealing with and what is he negotiating. I am not aware of any such negotiation. What I can tell you is that the Renamo parliamentary bench is run by the party president and receives guidance from Renamo. Therefore, I have no knowledge of such negotiation.

Source: Deutsche Welle