Mozambique: End of Renamo Demobilisation 'An Example of Success'

3 July 2023
Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique (Maputo)

President Filipe Nyusi declared in Maputo on 23 June that the end of the demobilisation of the militia of the main opposition party, Renamo, is an example of success in peacebuilding and in solving internal conflicts.

The President was speaking at a ceremony marking the end of the demobilisation and disarmament of the former Renamo guerrillas.

The last Renamo military base was closed on 20 June with 347 Renamo officers demobilised at the base, located at Vunduzi, in Gorongosa district, in the central province of Sofala. This brought the total number of former Renamo fighters demobilised since 2019 to 5,221.

"With this process, the country has won credibility as an example of how to lead peace processes", said President Nyusi.

It is hoped that the ceremony brings to an end the chapter of armed attacks in the central provinces. The shedding of the blood of Mozambican citizens, because of political differences was now a thing of the past, President Nyusi believed.

To guarantee peace, the government has promised to pay pensions to the former Renamo guerrillas - even though the Renamo fighters had never contributed to any pension fund.

Renamo has insisted for months that the right of the demobilised fighters to pensions is included in the peace agreement signed by President Nyusi and Renamo leader Ossufo Momade in 2019. But the President said the right to pensions is not stipulated in any formal accord reached between the government and Renamo. (Since the 2019 agreement has never been published, Renamo could get away with its claim).

President Nyusi added that the end of demobilisation does not mean the end of dialogue for peace. The next step is the reintegration of the former guerrillas into Mozambican society.

"We know that we still have a long path ahead of us", he said. "Reintegration and reconciliation will require the contribution of everyone. We Mozambicans must tread this path. Peace is not a finished product - it is a continual process".

Momade called for decent treatment of the former Renamo guerrillas. They should be received and accepted by all Mozambicans, he stressed.

Addressing the former guerrillas, Momade stressed that their demobilisation does not mean the end of Renamo, but was a commitment to peace. He attacked the alleged illegalities that have marked the voter registration, held between 20 April and 3 June, and demanded that they be corrected.

Read the original article on AIM.

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