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“There will be no elections if the government does not negotiate with us”, Mariano Nhongo threatens
3:02 CAT | 27 Aug 2019
Mariano Nhongo (left). [File photo: DW]
The leader of the self-proclaimed ‘Renamo Military Junta’ threatens to make the October 15 elections impossible if the Mozambique government fails to negotiate with his group on the implementation of the DDR process, and accuses the government of deceiving the people.
In an exclusive interview with DW Africa, Mariano Nhongo on Monday (26/08) again accused Renamo leader Ossufo Momade of being a fifth columnist within Mozambique’s largest opposition party, adding that “Renamo is the military. We will never accept Ossufo running for Renamo in the elections.”
On the other hand, the president of the self-proclaimed ‘Renamo Military Junta’ says that he remains willing to negotiate with the Frelimo government over the disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) process.
DW Africa: Mr Mariano Nhongo, you have always said that you want to negotiate with the government on the implementation of the DDR. Have you started contacts for this?
Mariano Nhongo (MN): No. I still have to meet Renamo members in the Mozambican Parliament to set up a committee that will initiate contacts with the government.
DW Africa: When will this meeting with MPs take place? And who are they?
MN: I spoke to them just today, but no date has been set. You want to know who the deputies are? Don’t you know Renamo’s MPs? These are the ones I will meet.
DW-Africa: But a few days ago, the Military Junta spokesman told the press that Renamo’s deputies would not pass the August 6, 2007 Peace and National Reconciliation Agreement into law in Parliament. But we saw them vote in favour. So which members is Mr Mariano Nhongo talking about?
MN: I told you, the Renamo deputies.
DW Africa: You [the Military Junta] still don’t recognise Mr. Ossufo Momade as president of Renamo. And the party says they have already started talks with you as “family”. Can you confirm this?
MN: No. We have had no further conversations with Ossufo Momade. We want to talk to the government. The military elected me as president. Ossufo was rejected by the military. We don’t have anything to do with him anymore. Don’t force us to accept him or there will be war.
DW Africa: You and your men are members of Renamo. Can any internal dialogue end this impasse?
MN: I will tell you the truth. The government is cheating Renamo and the Mozambican people when it says this is an internal problem. If it’s an internal problem, why did they sign an agreement with Ossufo Momade? When did I and the Renamo military start saying that we didn’t want Ossufo? But the government signed the agreement with him. This is provocation, and contemptuous of the Renamo military. We will show the country who we are.
DW Africa: How?
MN: How did you start hearing about Renamo? As it started, it will do the same again [referring to the attacks].
DW Africa: Is there a forecast of when this might happen?
MN: The government took an individual who knows nothing about Renamo and put him in the party leadership. But we are aware of that. If the executive doesn’t realize this, I’ll let you know the day I will start the war. But, so far, I still don’t prefer war.
DW Africa: You mean you prefer a dialogue?
MN: Yes. But if the government thinks it will dominate us, it is mistaken. We will force it to negotiate the DDR with us.
DW Africa: A few days ago, there was information circulating about an alleged attack on an ambulance in the Gorongosa region. Are you aware of this attack?
MN: I have already appealed to the government not to force Ossufo on us as president, and it forced us. The result is, I no longer have control over the military. These guerrillas who are doing the attacking, I’ve already lost control of them. They are scattered. Each, wherever he is, does what he wants. We will never accept Ossufo as president of Renamo. If it’s war they want, let’s go for it.
DW Africa: The election campaign begins On August 31st and you are still arguing about the leadership of the party. What is the next step?
MN: We rejected Ossufo. The government must negotiate with us so that all goes well. [So that] there be elections and election campaign without problems. If [the government] does not talk to us, there will be no campaign and no elections. We will fight with you [the government]. We want to see who is this one (…) who will be going around shouting ‘vote for me’ (…), we will kill. I will put weapons in every district and we will ambush those who campaign because they left Renamo out. They picked up some guy and placed him in front of the party. We do not like it. There is no campaign and no vote, say I, Mariano Nhongo, president of the Military Junta, and I am willing to fight with the government. They can’t make fun of us, we have come a long way. We don’t like this fooling around. Ossufo is not president of Renamo, they put us aside and went to negotiate with someone who knows nothing about the party. If it is an armed struggle that you are looking for, let’s go for it until when you want to talk to us.
DW Africa: Have you submitted a concrete proposal to the government for the postponement of the elections you are talking about so much?
MN: There are no elections and no election campaign. First you should sit down and talk to the owners of the Renamo party. Ossufo does not own the party. We are Renamo.
DW Africa: Which Renamo do you say you own? Renamo military or civilian?
MN: A civilian Renamo does not exist. For a long time, there has been a military Renamo. The military forces are the ones that are the party. If the government wants to work with civilian Renamo it can, and let it leave us as we are, but one day it will be looking for us. Renamo is us, the military. We take civilians which we put as members, but the party is us.
DW Africa: How does Renamo intend to govern the country if it remains militarised?
MN: Renamo’s intention is to negotiate with the government, for us to be integrated in the Defence and Security Forces, Police of the Republic of Mozambique (PRM), Rapid Intervention Unit (UIR), State Information and Security Service (SISE), and those without physical capacity will be demobilised.
DW Africa: And is that your biggest complaint?
MN: Yes. First, that there is an assignment, integration. Then, the rest is going into cantonment and the delivery of the weapons, and that’s it.
DW Africa: But isn’t this process already taking place within the framework of the military hostilities cessation agreement signed in Gorongosa?
MN: No. Did you see who has already handed over their weapons? We are already being framed. The weapons are the last thing to be delivered. On August 22 (Thursday), a team passed by to say that we have to hand in our weapons. Was it to integrate us? It was only to rip our weapons off and then abandon us.
DW Africa: But doesn’t the Ultimate Peace and National Reconciliation Agreement, signed in Maputo on August 6, foresee this?
MN: There is no agreement that has been signed. If the government wants to end the war, it must sign these agreements with Renamo. I told you, Ossufo is not Renamo. Try to consider the military of Renamo, then there will be cantonment and then compliance with DDR. But the government does not want to understand this, and insists on Ossufo.
DW Africa: But Mr. Ossufo was elected at a Renamo Congress, held in Gorongosa Mountain. How do you say he’s not party president?
MN: He was elected by his friends from Maputo. No military elected Ossufo Momade as party president. We have seen that he is a bought person and wants to ruin our party. And we reject giving up our men. And the military chose their president. And it is this that will lead all Renamo military personnel to the deployment and demobilisation and there will be no war.
Source: Deutsche Welle
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