Renamo reports two breaches of truce in central Mozambique

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Renamo reports two breaches of truce in central Mozambique

11:42 CAT | 22 Jun 2017

Renamo announced yesterday that three of its members were beaten and a fourth was shot at and injured by government forces in what it classifies as two “breach of truce” cases in Manica, central Mozambique.

The wife and son of the Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo) delegate in Pandagomwa, Honde, Barue district, were seriously injured when they were allegedly attacked at home by four community police agents linked to the Mozambican police, Sofrimento Matequenha, Renamo provincial political delegate in Manica, has told Lusa.

The deputy escaped unharmed and hid in the woods, but his house was burned down and his wife was sexually abused by community agents, he said.

The same source reported that in the Mossurize district in the Chiquitoquete area (Macuo), a Renamo member was shot at while socialising with family and friends. The attack was attributed to two men from the Armed Defence Forces of Mozambique, who stole US$400 and assaulted up the Renamo member’s mother-in-law.

“These two cases of breach of the truce occurred on June 17. We have members who are hiding in the woods even in the midst of a process of reconciliation,” Matequenha said.

Matequenha said that a hostile climate persists in Manica province, with harassment and deadly assaults on members of the main opposition party, despite a call for an end to military hostilities by the Reconciliation Commission, the government, Renamo and other entities.

Matequenha appealed to the police and the governor of Manica, who is responsible for state forces, to put an end to the constant persecution and robbery of members of the party by elements of the state forces by holding those who violate the truce accountable.

The police have not yet commented on the reports.

Speaking to Lusa on Friday, Renamo leader Afonso Dhlakama called the current truce “a success”, acknowledging “minor indiscipline” by men of the Armed Defence Forces of Mozambique.

Renamo’s demand to rule in the six provinces of central and northern Mozambique, where the party claimed victory in the general elections of 2014, and the consequent refusal of the government was the main reason for the resumption of the armed conflict in the country which persisted until December 2016.

With an indefinite truce and peace talks under way, Matequenha reaffirmed the need for cohesive political work.

Source: Lusa