PR calls Kikwete; Blair’s and Chester Crocker’s Foundations to the political dialogue

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PR calls Kikwete; Blair’s and Chester Crocker’s Foundations to the political dialogue

3:21 CAT | 13 Jul 2016

File photo / Filipe Nyusi, president of Mozambique, seen here during a recent working visit to Niassa province

Following Renamo leader Afonso Dhlakama’s invitation of the European Union, the Catholic church and South Africa to Mozambique’s dialogue table, the president, Filipe Nyusi, has also put forward three names.

They are the former president of Tanzania, Jakaya Kikwete, former UK prime minister Tony Blair and former US assistant secretary of state Chester Crocker. The new names were presented to Renamo last week, a source linked to the process confirmed to O País yesterday.

The government and Renamo agreed that the information would not be disclosed immediately, resulting in the absence of the usual press conference after last Thursday’s Joint Committee dialogue session.

According to the unnamed source, the three names are acceptable to Renamo, although it is not known whether they will accept the invitation.

Of the three names, Jakaya Kikwete is the closest to Nyusi and the Frelimo party, reports O País. He ruled neighbouring Tanzania for two terms between 2005 and 2015 with the support of Frelimo sponsor Julius Nyerere’s Chama Cha Mapinduzi party.

Tanzania played an important role in the independence of Mozambique, serving as a kind of “liberation university”. In 2014, Filipe Nyusi, then still just the Frelimo candidate for the presidency, visited the country and met former President Jakaya Kikwete. Significantly, the head of state chose Tanzania for his first state visit.

Another invitee to the dialogue table is former UK prime minister Tony Blair’s Faith Foundation. Blair was leader of the UK’s Labour Party from 1994 to 2007 and prime minister for ten years. He now heads an organisation with strong influence in African countries such as Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Kenya, Liberia and Rwanda.

Government names extend also to the USA, from where has been invited the Global Leadership Foundation, which was first established by Chester Crocker, former Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs in the Reagan administration from 1981 to 1989.

Source: O País