Mozambique: Renamo demobilisation complete in Manica

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Mozambique: Renamo demobilisation complete in Manica

8:07 CAT | 30 Mar 2021

The demobilisation of the militia of Mozambique’s main opposition party, Renamo, has now been completed in the central province of Manica, according to a statement issued on Tuesday by Mirko Manzoni, the personal representative to Mozambique of United Nations General Secretary, Antonio Guterres, and chairperson of the contact group facilitating the dialogue between Renamo and the government.

He said that a further 817 former Renamo fighters, including 11 women, had been disarmed and demobilised “and have taken the first steps in economic and social reintegration”. This was the result of work in three Renamo Manica bases, in the districts of Tambara, Barue and Mossurize, implementing the programme known as DDR (Demobilisation, Disarmament and Reintegration).

Attempts had been made to persuade members of the dissident “Renamo Military Junta” to join the DDR. 43 of the Junta’s members had joined the DDR in Manica, said Manzoni, the best known of whom was Andre Matsangaissa Junior, the nephew of the first Renamo commander, Andre Matade Matsangaissa.

Mats.tvm_ — *Andre Matsangaissa Junior, [Photo: TVM]*

“We are continuing to encourage all the remaining members of the Military Junta to choose dialogue to resolve their differences, and to remind them that the DDR process remains open to them”, he said. “It is the most viable option to ensure their peaceful return to civilian life”.

The end of DDR activities in Manica is “a significant landmark” in implementing the peace agreement signed in August 2019 between President Filipe Nyusi and Renamo leader, Ossufo Momade, added Manzoni.

To date, he said, more than half of the Renamo military bases have been closed, and 2,307 former Renamo fighters have been demobilised – which is 44 per cent of the total claimed by Renamo.

Manzoni was confident that the country “will remain on the right path to achieve a permanent peace and genuine reconciliation”.