Raids on Renamo reveal extreme levels of intolerance in Mozambique – academic

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Raids on Renamo reveal extreme levels of intolerance in Mozambique – academic

2:33 CAT | 31 Mar 2016

Lusa (File photo) / Police forces during the siege on Dhlakama's house in Beira

Mozambican political scientist João Pereira said on Wednesday that recent raids against Renamo show an “extreme level of political intolerance in Mozambique”, highlighting a contradiction between what the Mozambican president, Filipe Nyusi, says, and what the police actually do.

“These episodes reveal an extreme level of political intolerance,” the Professor of Political Science at Eduardo Mondlane University in Maputo told Lusa at a seminar on electoral abstention in Mozambique, arguing that there is a “great contradiction” between Nyusi’s invitation to the leader of the opposition to enter into dialogue and police operations at his properties.

On Sunday, the Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo) accused the police of invading two residences of its leader in Maputo and the national headquarters of the largest opposition party, but the Mozambican authorities say the action was aimed at the seizure of military equipment having confiscated 47 weapons.

Pereira says a high level of intolerance and the raids reveal a lack of political will to resolve the political crisis, a problem worsened by what he claims to be the centralization of power in the hands of a minority.

Referencing the police raid on the Renamo leader’s house in Beira, in October 2015, and the attacks against his travelling party in September, the academic says there is now a permanent climate of mistrust around Dhlakama’s security, a situation likely to affect the Renamo leader’s decision on whether or not to come out of the bush to enter talks.

“The Renamo leader will not come out of the woods to talk while he does not feel that there are credible guarantees of his security,” Pereira said, questioning the reasoning behind the Mozambican government’s new approach to the political crisis.

He goes on to warn of possible consequences, saying that Mozambique could slide into an ethnic war, further delaying development.

“I’m afraid this this may end in a war between the south, centre and north of the country,” Pereira says, noting that the economic challenges facing the country, with fluctuations in raw material prices in the international market and natural disasters, on their own constitute problems enough.

“We urgently need the political will of both parties to overcome this issue,” he says.

This is the second time in less than a year that the Mozambican police have conducted operations at the Renamo leader’s residences without a warrant.

The political crisis in Mozambique has worsened in recent weeks, with attacks on the main roads of the country attributed to the largest opposition party.

Clashes between the defence and security forces and the armed wing of the main opposition party have already caused an unknown number of deaths, as well as sending a wave of refugees into neighbouring Malawi.

Renamo threatens to seize power by force in the six provinces where claims victory in general elections in 2014, accusing the ruling party, Frelimo, of having committed electoral fraud in those elections.

Source: Lusa