Chimoio — Members of Mozambique's main opposition party, Renamo, on Monday publicly condemned the attitude of those Renamo militants who are calling for the dismissal or resignation of the party's leader, Ossufo Momade.
Momade was elected president of Renamo at a party congress held in January 2019, succeeding Afonso Dhlakama, who died of diabetes a few months earlier.
But ever since Momade's election, groups inside Renamo, claiming to be former guerrillas, have been calling for his removal. Members loyal to the Renamo leadership, held a press conference in the central city of Chimoio on Monday, to denounce the attitude of Momade's opponents.
Albino Faife, a member of the Renamo National Council, accused the dissidents of launching a wave of slanders, disinformation and groundless accusations against Momade.
This behaviour, he warned, endangered the good environment existing within the party. These former guerrillas "are being used against our current President, Ossufo Momade. They are trying, at all costs, to mobilise militants to join small groups to destabilise Renamo', said Faife.
"This type of behavior comes from a small group of hungry people who do not identify with the real Renamo demobilised fighters', he continued. "We do not share this lack of discipline, and so we encourage General Ossufo Momade to continue leading the destiny of Renamo, completing his mandate in full'.
Faife said that Renamo members are ready to denounce any situation that might disturb order within the party. If the promoters of this "lack of discipline' are identified, he warned, measures would be taken against them within the party.
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"We don't want disturbers of order inside Renamo', he insisted. "We want to be united and to work with our attentions directed at the forthcoming elections. That should be our main goal'.
Faife claimed that the voter registration currently under way, ahead of the municipal elections scheduled for 11 October, is taking place normally, despite reports of electoral crimes in some districts.
At the start of the registration, he said, there was some slowness in attending to potential voters, and equipment breakdowns at the registration posts. But he thought the problems had been solved, and the registration is now continuing without many constraints.
"Some electoral illegalities have been reported', said Faife. "We noted minors registering, and in some cases we had the problem of people registering twice. But, thanks to the presence of our members at the registration posts, we were able to identify these people'.
Faife took the opportunity to urge members of the public to register, so that they will be able to vote on 11 October. According to figures made available by the Electoral Administration Technical Secretariat (STAE), 732,063 people are entitled to register as voters, in the seven Manica municipalities.
