Renamo wants decentralisation laws deposited by December

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Renamo wants decentralisation laws deposited by December

7:32 CAT | 21 Aug 2017

rfI (File photo) / The Mozambican parliament

Afonso Dhlakama, leader of the Mozambican rebel movement Renamo, has insisted that a package of legislation on decentralization must be deposited in the Mozambican parliament, the Assembly of the Republic, before the end of December, even if it is not approved this year.

In a telephone interview published in Friday’s issue of the independent weekly “Savana”, Dhlakama said “I don’t know whether it will be passed this year, but the principle is that it must be deposited this year. And President Nyusi has to announce the holding of the presidential, parliamentary and provincial elections with the documents already approved by the Assembly”.

Nyusi and Dhlakama met in the bush in the central district of Gorongosa, near the Renamo base where Dhlakama is currently living, on 6 August. It was the first time the two men had met since February 2015.

A brief statement issued after the meeting said “The two leaders discussed and agreed on the next steps of peace process, which they hope will be completed by the end of the year”, but gave no details.

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Dhlakama has now clarified matters somewhat, saying that, as far as he is concerned, the decentralization package could be approved next year, but no later than the announcement of the date for the 2019 general elections. Nyusi must make that announcement 18 months before the elections. Since the law states that the elections must be held in October 2019, the deadline for announcing the date is late April 2018.

Two working groups have been set by the government and Renamo and are working quietly on decentralization and on military matters. By centralization, Renamo means the direct election of provincial governors. This will involve amending the Constitution which states that the President appoints the governors.

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It should not be too difficult to draft the constitutional amendment, since all three parties represented in the Assembly – the ruling Frelimo Party, Renamo and the Mozambique Democratic Movement (MDM) – now accept the principle of electing provincial governors.

But solving military issues will prove much more difficult. Dhlakama is still demanding that what he called “our commandos” be given senior positions in the armed forces (FADM). These “commandos” are members of the illegal militia Renamo has maintained in violation of the 1992 peace agreement that Dhlakama signed with the then President, Joaquim Chissano.

Under the 1992 agreement, the FADM was formed out of volunteers from Renamo and the government army of the time, the FAM/FPLM. At the time, both armies were collapsing in a wave of mutinies that spread across the country, and so there were nowhere near enough volunteers to meet the agreed figure for the FADM of 30,000 troops, half from each side.

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Renamo and the government agreed to take whoever volunteered, and so the FADM was formed with just 11,579 troops, about two thirds from the FAM/FPLM, and one third from Renamo. The vast bulk of the fighters from both sides (78,660 in all) were demobilized. Contrary to the impression given by Dhlakama, there have always been Renamo officers in the leadership of the FADM, including the Deputy Chief of Staff.

Since 1994, the FADM has not recruited on a political basis. Under Mozambique’s law on conscription, young Mozambicans should register for military service in the year of their 18th birthday, and these potential recruits are not asked what political party they support.

Dhlakama is demanding that senior military positions be filled by people whose sole qualification is their membership of the Renamo militia. This violates the principle that the FADM is a non-political party force, and is arguably unconstitutional.

Dhlakama warned that, only after his men are given top military posts, will he disband his militia. They would be sent home, he told “Savana”, but he expected “the best of them” to be selected for posts in the police force, and in the State Intelligence and Security Service (SISE).

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While the passage through parliament of the decentralization legislation could be delayed until early 2018, Dhlakama insisted that all the military issues must be dealt with by the end of this year – the inclusion of his “commandos” in the FADM by October, and everything else by the end of December. Only then would he sign an overall agreement with Nyusi.

Dhlakama wanted to see his men in command at all levels – general staff, army, navy, air force, battalions, brigades, regiments, and provincial and district commands. He claimed that “90 per cent of these positions are occupied by officers who come from the Frelimo side”.

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