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Photo: Sala da Paz
Mozambique’s main opposition party, Renamo, has urged the militiamen affiliated to the breakaway faction that calls itself the “Renamo Military Junta”, to surrender and join the Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR) drive underway across the country.
Renamo leader Ossufo Momade made this appeal on Sunday, in the central Mozambican province of Tete, where within the next few days he will meet former Renamo fighters demobilised in the DDR framework, and oversee their integration back into society.
Momade said that Renamo has its arms wide open to receive every Renamo member still affiliated to the Junta including Mariano Nhongo, the leader of the breakaway faction, who has threatened to have Momade assassinated.
“Everyone who joined the Military Junta defected from Renamo. This is something we cannot hide”, said Momade. “Even Mariano Nhongo himself is a member of Renamo, because he was with us in the bush.”
As for the move recently made by Andre Matsangaissa Junior, one of the key figures in the Junta, to abandon the bush, surrender to the defence forces and join the DDR, Momade said this was a praiseworthy decision and he urged other supporters of the Junta to follow suit.
“He (Matsangaissa) asked to hold a meeting with me, where he expressed his will to return home,” Momade said, adding that when a lost son returns, the father takes and kills the best calf to express his great joy for the return of his offspring.
When asked about former Renamo militiamen joining the Mozambican police, Momade said a list with the names of nearly 300 demobilised men has been recently tabled to the government and his party is now awaiting an answer.
“We have another list of 36 members who will be part of the police unit protecting senior officials”, he added. “We expect the government to fulfil its part.”
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