Mozambique: Renamo set to transform some military bases into “historic and tourist” sites

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Mozambique: Renamo set to transform some military bases into “historic and tourist” sites

2:29 CAT | 11 Apr 2022

File photo: Lusa

The Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo), Mozambique’s largest opposition party, on Friday expressed its intention to transform some military bases into “historic and tourist sites”, in honour of the party’s founders.

“We intend to turn the Gorongosa base, [in the centre of the country], for example, and some other bases which I cannot as yet mention, into historical and tourist sites,” Renamo secretary general André Magibire said on the sidelines of a visit to Cabo Delgado province, in northern Mozambique.

According to Magibire, the transformation could start after the conclusion of the process of Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR) of the armed wing of the party. The bases will be preserved in honour of the party’s founders and “all those who died for democracy in Mozambique”.

“We want the place where Renamo was born to be known, where [founder] André Matsangaíssa directed the first operations”, and also the places “where Matsangaíssa and Afonso Dhlakama died,” the Renamo secretary general said.

Mozambique’s President Filipe Nyusi and Renamo leader Ossufo Momade announced on Tuesday that the last five military bases of the main opposition party would be closed in the coming weeks, as part of the 2019 peace agreement.

According to official figures, 63% of the approximately 5,000 Renamo guerrillas foreseen have already surrendered their weapons under the Maputo Peace and National Reconciliation Agreement, and, of the party’s 16 bases, 11 have already been deactivated.

The agreement was the third between the government of the Liberation Front of Mozambique (Frelimo) and Renamo, all three having been signed after cycles of armed violence, mainly in the centre of the country.

Source: Lusa