Renamo congress to choose successor to Afonso Dhlakama

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Renamo congress to choose successor to Afonso Dhlakama

1:36 CAT | 15 Jan 2019

in file CoM

The Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo) congress starts today in the Gorongosa district of Sofala province, its main mission to elect a successor to Afonso Dhlakama, the late leader of Mozambique’s main opposition party in.

The congress brings together 700 party delegates and 300 guests, and runs until Thursday.

Three people have announced their candidacy: Manuel Bissopo (Renamo secretary general), Elias Dhlakama (general in the reserve and Afonso Dhlakama’s brother) and Hermínio Morais (former commander of the guerrilla party).

Ossufo Momade, the coordinator of the Renamo Political Commission, which has been the caretaker leader of the party since the death of Afonso Dhlakama, has yet to announce whether he will run for office.

The new Renamo leader will automatically become the party’s candidate for this year’s presidential elections, which will run concurrently with legislative and provincial elections.

The three so far declared candidates have in common the fact that they were part of the guerrilla force that fought Frelimo government troops during the 16-year civil war that ended in 1992 with the signing of the General Peace Agreement.

Manuel Bissopo has already run in municipal elections twice, losing in both Dondo and Beira municipalities.

Elias Dhlakama is a general in the reserve of the Defence Forces of Mozambique (FADM), which he joined as part of the formation of the single army combining the Renamo and government forces.

Hermínio Morais ran in the October 10 municipal elections in Maputo last year but lost, and is a member of the municipal assembly in the capital. Morais was commander of the Renamo guerilla during the civil war.

Afonso Dhlakama died from illness on May 3 last year, after leading the party for 40 years.

Source: Lusa