Mozambique: Renamo blames government for disarmament delays – Watch

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Mozambique: Renamo blames government for disarmament delays – Watch

7:43 CAT | 27 Dec 2022

Screen grab: Ossufo Momade on Facebook

The president of the Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo) has blamed the government for the delay in completing the Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR) process of its armed wing under the peace agreement signed by the two parties.

“The DDR process should have been closed on 19 December, and unfortunately, it did not happen because of the systematic failures of the other parties involved,” Ossufo Momade told the media from Nampula in northern Mozambique.

At issue is the postponement of the closure of the central base of the party’s armed wing in the Gorongosa mountains as part of the Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR) process provided for in the peace agreement signed with the government in 2019.

Among the complaints of the main opposition party in Mozambique are the delays in pensions that should be paid to demobilised guerrillas, a problem to which the United Nations Secretary-General’s personal envoy to Mozambique and president of the contact group in the negotiations, Mirko Manzoni, warned of a week ago.

“We have become increasingly concerned about an alleged lack of funds and alleged unsustainability of pensions for our combatants,” the Renamo leader stressed.

On Tuesday, the Mozambican head of state said that mechanisms need to be studied to ensure the sustainability of pensions for Renamo guerrillas.

“We are studying a sustainable way to institute pensions for this group of Mozambicans so that our countrymen can be integrated into society in a dignified and productive way,” Filipe Nyusi said in his annual state of the nation address to parliament.

The DDR process is part of the Peace and National Reconciliation Agreement signed on 6 August 2019 by Mozambican head of state Filipe Nyusi and Renamo leader Ossufo Momade.

The understanding was the third between the Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo) government and the main opposition force, all signed following cycles of armed violence between the two parties.

Under the agreement, of the total of 5,221 elements to be covered, around 4,700 (90%) have handed in their weapons, some of the men have been incorporated into the Mozambican Defence and Security Forces.

Source: Lusa