Maputo — Mozambique's main opposition party, Renamo, is going through an unprecedented crisis, according to Elias Dhlakama, brother of the late Afonso Dhlakama, who led the party from 1979 until his death in 2018.
Cited by the independent television station STV, Dhlakama said "In the more than 40 years of our existence we have never faced a situation like this, in which a Renamo internal problem ends up in front of a court'.
Dhlakama blamed this on the failure of the current Renamo leadership to respect the party's statutes "in order to satisfy personal appetites'.
"We know what our Statutes are', he said. "Our Statutes are our guide, our Bible and our Constitution. We are all called upon to comply with them. It is failure to comply with the Renamo statutes that has led us to where we are today, which I consider a national disgrace for Renamo'.
The current crisis pits the party's leader, Ossufo Momade, against the Renamo candidate for mayor of Maputo in the recent municipal elections, Venancio Mondlane, who has declared his desire to replace Momade.
Momade was elected President of Renamo at a Party Congress held in January 2019. Under the party statutes, a congress to elect the leadership should be held every five years. But no date has yet been fixed for the 2024 Renamo Congress, and Momade's term of office expired on 17 January.
With no sign of an impending Congress, and with the Party spokesperson, Jose Manteigas declaring that Momade will be the Renamo candidate in the presidential election scheduled for 9 October, Mondlane applied for an injunction with the Maputo City Law Court to force Momade to obey the statutes.
He was successful. Last week the court suspended all decisions taken by Momade since 17 January. In this ruling, the Maputo court effectively agreed with Mondlane that Momade has lost his legitimacy.
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The court ruling cancels Momade's dismissal of Renamo provincial delegates in eight provinces, and the appointment of new ones, and the dismissal of the head of the Renamo election office.
The court thought it illegitimate for Renamo bodies, whose term of office had expired almost two months ago, to continue to appoint and dismiss party officials.
Dhlakama remarked that "who is losing from all of this is neither Venancio Mondlane nor Ossufo Momasde, but Renamo itself'.
He warned that the instability in the party could prove highly damaging and might even force Renamo to pullout of the 9 October elections.
"There are risks that our adversaries may take advantage of this', he said, noting that Momade is likely to appeal against the court decision, thus postponing any definitive resolution of the crisis.
Dhlakama was convinced that the only way out is to hold the overdue Congress.
"If we had held the Congress, we would not have reached this point', he said. "Renamo is in need of far-reaching reform'.
Reports that Renamo does not have enough money to organise a Congress are not true, Dhlakama added.
