“The President hasn’t called me yet” – Nhongo on Nyusi’s dialogue proposal

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“The President hasn’t called me yet” – Nhongo on Nyusi’s dialogue proposal

4:48 CAT | 27 Oct 2020

FILE - Mariano Nhongo (left) says he has not yet received any Frelimo invitation for dialogue. [File photo: DW]

President Filipe Nyusi has declared a unilateral seven-day truce in Sofala and Manica provinces. The goal is to facilitate negotiations with the self-proclaimed Renamo Military Junta.

President Nyusi last Saturday (24.10) announced, speaking in Cabo Delgado, that he would instruct the Defence and Security Forces in central Mozambique to stop pursuing the self-proclaimed Renamo Military Junta led by Mariano Nhongo for a period of seven days.

According to Nyusi, the truce would serve to give this group the opportunity to join a dialogue with the government to end military hostilities in the centre of the country, specifically in the provinces of Sofala and Manica.

The Renamo dissidents have been identified as the perpetrators of attacks against civilian and military targets, mainly on the National Road Number One (EN1).

“We are not going to chase the Junta for a week, precisely to say that we are open, I am open, the country is open. They already know that we are working on ways to find a solution so that the problem of Mozambicans killing other Mozambicans does not prevail,” the president said.

“Let’s say stop for now. Then, I call once again on the Renamo Military Junta to take advantage of this opportunity that I am giving to be able to join the dialogue so that we find solutions as Mozambicans, and come out winning,” he added.

“This is cheating”

The leader of the self-proclaimed Military Junta, Mariano Nhongo, says he has not yet been contacted by any state structure for dialogue. He has said that he would start talks only with the President of the Republic, and not with Renamo leader Ossufo Momade.

Nhongo reiterates that Ossufo Momade must be removed from the leadership of Mozambique’s largest opposition party for any peace negotiations to be successful. “He [the President] hasn’t called me yet and I haven’t even received a phone call. Since I’m in the bush, I don’t even have a radio. When I hear and see that Frelimo [Mozambique Liberation Front] is interested in peace, I will send my men to negotiate with them,” he said.

“Frelimo is kidnapping. Here in Gorongosa, two men were kidnapped [recently]. They say ‘let’s negotiate’, but it is not right, that’s cheating,: Nhongo says. “In Mozambique, we cannot live in cheating [em batota].”

Despite seeing a possibility for dialogue, the leader of the self-proclaimed Military Junta views with suspicion what he calls President Nyusi’s unilateral interest, announced before a full Frelimo party meeting.

“When the Government speaks the truth and does not deceive the people and the military, if the Government is speaking the truth, I have all resources, both international and national, and I will prove myself. I will not hide anymore, I will go out publicly and say: ‘I’m here, come, Government.’ We will negotiate, but with deceits, no, no, no. We will not accept that, because we are afraid to deceive the people,” he said.

MDM calls for disclosure of truce’s points of reference

Daviz Simango, leader of the Democratic Movement of Mozambique (MDM), the country’s third-largest political party, congratulated Filipe Nyusi on his courage in opening up to dialogue in the cause of peace, and encouraged the Junta to take the opportunity seriously.

In a communique issued yesterday, the MDM called for the disclosure of the points of reference for the truce. “We await the President, as head of state and commander-in-chief of the Defence and Security Forces, disclosing the points of reference so that the measures taken are binding on the Mozambican state in general and on the Defence and Security Forces in particular. For peace is in the public interest, and concerns all Mozambicans,” Simango says in a note released to the media.

“The MDM is for peace, so it wants both parties to sit at the same table and overcome their differences. We think it is unfair that civilians continue to die. That this dialogue is inclusive and that what has happened in the past is avoided, we remember that secrecy and exclusion have been the perpetual source of problems until today,” he said.

The Frelimo Government has been negotiating peace and democratic transition with Renamo since 1992, since when three agreements have been signed, the last in Maputo on August 6, 2019. Although it seemed to have engaged all interested parties, the agreement was rejected by the dissident armed splinter group led by Mariano Nhongo.

Source: Deutsche Welle