Mozambique Elections: Where is Ossufo Momade? – Sala da Paz

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Mozambique Elections: Where is Ossufo Momade? – Sala da Paz

5:02 CAT | 18 Jan 2024

File photo: Sala da Paz

This Thursday (18-01), precisely 54 days have passed since Renamo’s Ossufo Momade last intervened publicly. The last time he spoke to the public through the media was on November 25, 2023.

On that occasion, the Renamo president was reacting to the validation and proclamation of the October 11 electoral results by the Constitutional Council, and announced the holding of protest marches, adding that the party would organise a meeting of the National Council.

“We were waiting for the last instance (CC) so that we can have our own message so that we can hold the National Council. No one is afraid of holding the National Council,” Momade told the press from his office in Maputo.

Since then, the following events, at which the Renamo leader did not personally intervene in public, can be highlighted.

1. The repetition of elections in some polling stations in Milange, Gurue and Nacala Porto and in all tables in Marromeu;

2. Validation and proclamation of the results of the repetitions by the Constitutional Council;

3. House arrest and suspension of duties of Raúl Novinte, mayor of Nacala Porto and Paulo Vahanle, mayor of Nampula, in addition to other Renamo officials;

4. Renamo protest in the Assembly of the Republic during President Filipe Nyusi’s State of the Nation Address;

5. Presentation of the Renamo State of the Nation report (presented by the General Secretariat of Renamo);

6. Presentation of the electoral calendar for the 2024 elections by CNE & STAE Mozambique;

7. Scheduling an extraordinary session of the Assembly of the Republic to review the electoral law, which will result in changes to the electoral calendar;

8. End of his five-year term as president of Renamo;

9. Public debate on succession at Renamo;

10. Announcement by Renamo spokesperson, José Manteigas, of Ossufo Momade’s exclusive candidacy for the presidency of Renamo;

11. Senior Renamo members announcing their candidacy for the Renamo presidency, including Venâncio Mondlane and Juliano Picardo, political advisors to Ossufo Momade and Elias Dhlakama, Renamo deputy in the Assembly of the Republic;

12. Announcement of the date of inauguration of the elected mayors.

13. Appointment of a senior Renamo member to the position of ambassador;

14. Changes in local party structures in some districts and provinces, just a few days/hours before the end of their mandate.

In all these instances, Ossufo Momade remained silent. The party’s official communications were led by General Secretary Clementina Bomba and party spokesperson José Manteigas.
Recently rumours have circulated that Ossufo Momade was suffering from some illness, but the Renamo spokesperson has denied this.

During his absence from the public realm, it was expected that the date of the congress enabling the election of the new Renamo president would be set, as well as details of the steps to be taken to elect the Renamo candidate for the 2024 presidential elections.

In this sense, the initial question becomes even more worrying: Where is Ossufo Momade? What is the reason for his absence and prolonged silence, exactly in an electorally and politically potent year?

Source: Sala da Paz