Mozambique Elections: EU calls for 'legislative improvements' - Lusa
As for the final technical group, its name is self-explanatory – it must monitor and check the entire process and will make regular visits to the centres where the Renamo armed men are accommodated. Since it is continuing the work begun in Gorongosa in 2017, it will be based in Gorongosa – which is where Renamo’s military headquarters is located.
Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi on Wednesday announced the establishment of four working groups, set up between the government and the rebel movement Renamo, in order to implement the memorandum of understanding signed between the President and the Renamo national coordinator, Ossufo Momade, earlier this month.
The memorandum is aimed at achieving definitive peace – which will involve disarming and dismantling the Renamo militia, and incorporating is members into the armed forces and the police, or re-integrating them into civilian life.
After the initial negotiations between Nyusi and the late Renamo leader Afonso Dhlakama, a truce took effect as from 27 December 2016. That truce has held to the present – there have been no further Renamo ambushes on the country’s roads, and no clashes between Renamo and government forces.
But Renamo still maintains its own militia, in violation of the 1992 peace agreement between the government and Renamo. The size of this militia is unclear, since Renamo has never issued any figures about its forces.
The four groups set up on Wednesday are a Commission on Military Affairs, and three Joint Technical Groups – one on Disarmament and Reintegration, one on incorporating Renamo militia members into the armed forces (FADM) and the police, and one on monitoring and verification. All these groups were to start their work immediately.
Nyusi announced that the government team on the Commission on Military Matters consists of three senior military and police officers – Maj-Gen Eugenio Mussa, Lt-Col Manuel de Oliveira, and first deputy police commissioner, Paulo Chacine.
Mussa is a former commander of the army, and is currently commander of the Civic Service (which is an alternative to military service for young Mozambicans who cannot be conscripted into the FADM). Chacine is commander of the Frontier Police.
Renamo’s team on the commission consists of civilians – Andre Majibire, who is the Renamo national election agent, and a member of the country’s parliament, the Assembly of the Republic, Leogivildo Buanacasso, the unsuccessful Renamo candidate for mayor of the northern city of Cuamba in a 2014 by-election, and prominent parliamentarian Eduardo Namburete, who ran unsuccessfully for mayor of Maputo in 2008.
All three have prior experience of negotiating with the government. Most recently, Magibire and Buanacasso were members of the Renamo team that negotiated a decentralisation package with the government in 2017, leading to this year’s constitutional amendments providing for the election of provincial governors and district administrators.
Nyusi said that the Commission will be in charge of planning all activities concerning military matters, and should ensure the definitive cessation of military hostilities. It should ensure the disarming and demobilisation of the Renamo armed force, and propose measures to prevent any possible violations.
The commission, he added, will be directly subordinate to “the highest bodies of the two sides”.
The three technical groups consist exclusively of military and police officers. They are as follows:
Technical Group on Disarmament and Reintegration
Government:
Brig Anastacio Zaqueu (head of the operations department in the FADM General Staff)
Lt-Col Gabriel Macha
Renamo:
Brig Jossefo Isaias de Sousa
Lt-Col Evaristo Massave
Technical Group on Incorporation into the FADM and police
Government:
Brig Luciano Barbosa (Director of the department of military doctrine in the FADM General Staff)
Col Fidelino Anselmo
Renamo:
Brig David Monongoro (Deputy Commander for Administration in Mozambique’s Higher Institute of Defence Studies, ISEDEF)
Col Araujo Maciacona (now a brigadier, thanks to a promotion announced by Nyusi on Wednesday)
Technical Group on Monitoring and Verification
Government:
Col Borges Nordino
Col Zeca Cebolinho
Lt-Col Viriato Tamele (Tamele, Nordino and Cebolinho were members of the government team on the joint commission monitoring the withdrawal of government forces from parts of the central district of Gorongosa in mid-2017, under the truce with Renamo that took effect in December the previous year)
Chief Police Superintendent Obreiro Napoleao
Renamo:
Col Joao John Buca
Lt-Col Brito Caetano
Maj Carlos Chumbo (all three of these Renamo figures were members of the Renamo team on the commission monitoring the mid-2017 withdrawal of government forces from parts of Gorongosa).
Capt Augusto Maiua.
Nyusi said the Technical Group on Disarmament and Reintegration will draw up a disarmament plan, and will receive information from Renamo on how many armed men it has, and the weaponry they possess. It will carry out surveys and interviews of the Renamo militiamen to identify how they can be reintegrated into society.
The group must ensure the complete disarming of Renamo, and ensure that all former Renamo bases are completely free of military equipment and of explosives.
The Group on incorporating Renamo militiamen into the FADM and police must supervise the training of Renamo officers, and study all the case files on the list of Renamo officers supplied by the Renamo leadership. It must also ensure compliance with the calendar for recruitment into the defence and security forces. It will be based in the central city of Beira.
As for the final technical group, its name is self-explanatory – it must monitor and check the entire process and will make regular visits to the centres where the Renamo armed men are accommodated. Since it is continuing the work begun in Gorongosa in 2017, it will be based in Gorongosa – which is where Renamo’s military headquarters is located.
In addition, there remains an international contact group, chaired by the Swiss ambassador. The other members of the group are the ambassadors of the United States (as deputy chair), the European Union, China, Botswana, the United Kingdom and Norway. This is the continuation of the contact group set up at the start of the dialogue between Nyusi and Dhlakama.
Nyusi hoped that the contact group will continue to assist Mozambique, particularly in mobilising the resources needed for the successful disarming and demobilisation of the Renamo militia and for the reintegration of its members into society.
Leave a Reply
Be the First to Comment!
You must be logged in to post a comment.
You must be logged in to post a comment.