Mozambique: Renamo says is out of parliamentary visit and criticises commission

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Mozambique: Renamo says is out of parliamentary visit and criticises commission

5:05 CAT | 08 Oct 2020

File photo: O País

The Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo), Mozambique’s largest opposition party, said today that it will not be part of the parliamentary commission due to visit the areas affected by armed violence in Cabo Delgado, in the north of the country.

“The [Renamo] party, through its representation in parliament, will not be part of this working visit. In our opinion, it will be tourism only, and to make it look like the Assembly of the Republic is involved in solving the problem,” Renamo secretary general André Magibire said.

Mozambique: Parliament’s first Commission to visit Cabo Delgado, Manica and Sofala

Speaking at a press conference at the party’s headquarters in Maputo, Magibire announced that the Standing Commission had also declined to submit to parliament Renamo’s proposition to create a commission of inquiry to investigate alleged rights violations in Cabo Delgado.

“Instead, and to dilute the Renamo initiative, the Standing Commission decided to mandate the First Commission to carry out a working visit,” Magibire said.

A team from the Commission on Constitutional Affairs, Human Rights and Legality of the Mozambican parliament will visit, at a still undisclosed date, areas affected by the armed attacks in northern and central Mozambique.

“We have no doubt that mandating a commission for a working visit will not achieve the intended objectives,” Magibire added.

The province of Cabo Delgado, in the north of the country, has been the scene of armed attacks for three years, some claimed by the `jihadist` Islamic State group, but whose origin remains unclear.

The violence caused a humanitarian crisis with more than a thousand deaths and about 250,000 internally displaced persons.

In the coming years, the region is expected to receive investments of around US$50 billion (€42.6 billion) in natural gas, led by the North American oil companies Exxon Mobil and French Total, which already has works underway on the ground.

In central Mozambique, in the provinces of Manica and Sofala, there have also been armed attacks attributed to a dissident group from the Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo), the main opposition party.

The attacks by this group have affected roads and villages in Manica and Sofala provinces, causing the death of at least 30 people in the region since August of last year.

The self-styled ‘Renamo Military Junta’, led by former Renamo guerrilla leader Mariano Nhongo, disputes the party leadership and the terms of the peace agreement signed in August of last year.

Source: Lusa