Maputo — Joaquim Vaz, the general secretary of Mozambique's main opposition party, the former rebel movement Renamo, has denied charges levelled at him that he is doing no work, and is systematically absent from his office.
Interviewed in Saturday's issue of the daily paper "Noticias", Vaz claimed that he lacked the resources to do his job properly.
He said that, shortly after his election to the post in late 2001, he drew up a budget and a plan of action. He had intended to visit Renamo delegations in all provinces, in order to make an exhaustive survey of the state of the party. But six months later this plan and budget have still not been approved.
"Let them give me the material and logistical resources for me to start my work", he exclaimed.
While the plan and budget were not approved by the party's leading bodies, there was little he could do, apart from attend routine meetings, Vaz said.
"People begin to work on the basis of a concrete programme", he added.
Vaz had wanted to start his visits to the provinces on 2 July, covering all ten of them in a period of just a fortnight.
He said he would just fix new dates and carry out this plan, as soon as the documents were approved.
He insisted that the problem faced by Renamo was not the person of the general secretary, but one of resources. "The problem is logistical", Vaz said. "Approve the plan and the budget, and then they can demand work of me".
He denied that he scarcely set foot in his office, saying that frequently he was not at Renamo headquarters, but at the separate offices of Renamo President Afonso Dhlakama "to speak about the life of the party".
As if to refute the claims that he is never there, Vaz received the AIM reporters in his office at the Renamo building.
Asked about the meeting of the Renamo Political Commission earlier this week, Vaz said he knew nothing about it. He was not a member of the Political Commission, and only attended its meetings when invited. This time he was not invited.
The real problem for other Renamo leaders is believed to be Vaz's friendship with the former leader of the Renamo parliamentary group, Raul Domingos, who was expelled from the party in 2000.
But Vaz denied that his personal friendships had any influence on his political work. "They have nothing to do with each other", he declared. "I've said several times that Raul Domingos is a friend, and I will never cease being his friend.
Don't mix things up. Friendship is friendship, and politics is politics".
Meanwhile, the Renamo Political Commission has denied expelling Chico Francisco, advisor on foreign relations to Dhlakama, from the party. But it has set up an ad-hoc committee to analyse his behaviour.
Francisco's offence is that he visited the United States in June against Dhlakama's wishes. Dhlakama and Francisco were to have attended a meeting of the International Democratic Union, a grouping of right-wing parties with which Renamo is associated.
But Renamo failed to apply on time for Dhlakama's entry visa, and so he was unable to travel. Francisco already had a valid visa, so he went to the US, despite orders from Dhlakama not to go.
Political Commission member Gania Mussagy told "Noticias" that Francisco has neither been expelled nor suspended. But "he took a unilateral decision to distance himself from the party, and his behaviour must be properly analysed", she said.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
She also claimed that, when Francisco was interviewed by Mozambican Television (TVM), he "told lies" about the trip to the United States.
She said the ad-hoc committee would question Francisco to find out if he had consciously aborted Dhlakama's travel plans, or if there had been some "outside hand".
As for Francisco's position as advisor to Dhlakama, Mussagy said he had "suspended himself" by not appearing at Dhlakama's office for about six months.
She said the ad-hoc committee would conclude its work within a few days, and then Dhlakama would take the final decision on Francisco's fate.
