Mozambique: Renamo members again contest party leadership in Zambezia

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Mozambique: Renamo members again contest party leadership in Zambezia

12:58 CAT | 13 Feb 2020

FILE: For illustration purposes only. [File photo: DW]

At the centre of the protests is the nomination by Ossufo Momade of Elisa Maria Isabel for the post of provincial political delegate, without elections. Renamo justifies the appointment with new party statutes.

Members and supporters of the Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo) in Zambézia are unhappy with the party’s leadership and demanding clarification from party leader Ossufo Momade.

Friction between Renamo members in Zambezia province and the party’s central leadership became evident last week when Ossufo Momade named Elisa Maria Isabel for the position of political delegate provincial without holding a vote. She will replace Abdala Ossifo.

In the opinion of Renamo members in Zambézia, the new delegate being appointed without a vote violates the party’s statutes.

“Disgruntled majority”

In an interview with DW, one of the disgruntled members, who declined to be identified, said that “the majority of members are not satisfied with the nomination” and that it “will cause disagreements within the party”. “I foresee this creating problems for us as time goes on,” he said.

The same young man has other criticisms.

“No Renamo [supervising delegate] member was present during the voting process, at the Technical Secretariat for Electoral Administration (STAE) and the National Election Commission (CNE). And why? Who gave that order? A very poor job was done, and we have few members in the Provincial Assembly and in the Assembly of the Republic, something that never happened [before],” he says.

Since Ossufo Momade took control of Renamo, party members in Zambézia have been questioning the political direction their party has taken. Many of them point to the leader as the main reason for Renamo’s defeat in the 2019 general elections.

“In no time, Renamo will even disappear from future elections. We don’t want a president who plays with us; we want true democracy. We want a president who discusses the welfare of the Mozambican people, not a president who receives tips. If he is not succeeding, he will have to leave Renamo. I think Ossufo Momade should devise policies that convince the population of Zambézia,” another member of the party, who also prefered to remain anonymous, suggests.

But Renamo’s Head of Youth Mobilization, José Pedro, says that party leaders can be selected by election or nomination. “That [by nomination] was how Eisa Silvestre was appointed provincial delegate of Zambezia. If the members were not in agreement, they should have objected at the time.”

Renamom.file_.dw_ — *Ossufo Momade. [File photo: DW]*

Bylaws change

Renamo delegate in Quelimane Latifo Charifo also notes that the party’s statutes – which provided for the election of cadres – have already been changed, leaving Ossufo Momade free to nominate anyone.

“With the new party statutes, the president has the prerogative to nominate the provincial political delegates. At the congress last year, guidelines were approved that indicate [this] prerogative. There is no vote [election]. The people who don’t know the new party statutes should read them,” he admonishes.

Source: Deutsche Welle