Mozambique: Opposition party accuses police of persecuting members in Sofala

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Mozambique: Opposition party accuses police of persecuting members in Sofala

11:54 CAT | 19 Jun 2020

File photo: O País

Mozambique’s main opposition party, Renamo, has accused state security forces of persecuting its members in Sofala province, in the centre of the country, in violation of a peace agreement signed in August last year.

“All those who identify with Renamo, the population, as well as the former guerrillas, suffer persecution,” said André Magibire, Renamo’s secretary-general, at a meeting with party officials in Beira, Sofala province.

Police commanders dismissed the accusations, saying that they were unfounded.

“It is clearly an accusation that does not constitute the truth,” Daniel Macuacua, a police spokesman in Sofala, told Lusa, adding that a more detailed statement would be forthcoming from the Sofala provincial command.

At least three party members were found dead over the weekend in the Macorococho forest in Nhamatanda, according to the Renamo secretary-general, and party officials suspect the killings are linked to the victims’ political affiliation.

“The local political delegate himself is on the run because there is no security in his area and his son was captured by the authorities,” Magibire said, adding that the alleged harassment could undermine peace efforts under the agreement signed between Mozambique’s president, Filipe Nyusi, and Renamo’s leader, Ossufo Momade.

“If they continue to persecute our members, we don’t know how they can react,” Magibire said.

On Saturday the government, Renamo and the peace contact group agreed on the first closure of a Renamo military base as part of the demilitarisation, disarmament and reintegration (DDR) process.

The DDR process is foreseen under the peace agreement signed in August 2019, as a means of consolidating the ceasefire in a conflict between the government and Renamo that dragged on until 2016 in some districts in the centre of the country.

At least 38 former Renamo guerrillas in Sofala handed over their weapons in a demobilisation process that is to be done in stages, due to the measures to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus that causes Covid-19.

It is expected that 5,000 former guerrillas will be aided under the agreement in reintegrating into society.

Source: Lusa