Mozambique: Defence forces are containing extremists in Cabo Delgado - government | Watch
Nyusi demands speedy action on Pondeca murder – AIM report
7:14 CAT | 12 Oct 2016
File photo / President Filipe Nyusi
Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi has condemned the murder of Jeremias Pondeca, a senior member of the Renamo rebel movement, and demanded that the police move rapidly to solve the murder.
In a brief statement issued on Monday, Nyusi noted that Pondeca had been a member of the Council of State, a consultative body that advises the President. In that capacity, Pondeca had made “a valuable contribution”.
In his own name, and those of the other members of the Council of State, Nyusi presented condolences to the grieving family and to Renamo. He ordered “the relevant authorities” to solve the murder “with maximum speed”.
Pondeca was also a member of the Joint Commission set jup between the government and Renamo to prepare a face-to-face meeting between Nyusi and Renamo leader Afonso Dhlakama.
Contrary to initial expectations the Joint Commission did not resume its work on Monday. At the end of September, meetings of the Commission were suspended, and the coordinator of the international mediating team, the Italian Mario Raffaelli, set 10 October as the date for the next meeting.
But on Monday, Raffaelli issued a statement saying he had returned to Maputo the previous day, and had asked the government and Renamo to postpone the resumption of negotiations until 18 October, in order “to make possible a reflection on the best way of speeding up the solution of the questions under discussion”.
Raffaelli had clearly made this request before he knew of the assassination of Pondeca – news of the murder was not widely known until Sunday afternoon.
His statement added that a reflection on the best way to proceed “becomes more pertinent with the news of the brutal assassination of the Renamo delegate Jeremias Pondeca”.
This, Raffaelli said, was “a horrible act and is to be condemned, but it should not lead to any deviation from the search for peace. Only with the end of violence, whatever its origin, can a genuine and lasting peace truly be built”.
The mediators therefore “reiterate their commitment to helping the parties reach an acceptable and positive understanding for the entire Mozambican people”, he declared.
Raffaelli met with both the government and Renamo on Monday, and pledged to continue these contacts in the coming days.
Source: AIM
Show comments
Also read
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.