Maputo — Joaquim Vaz, the general secretary of Mozambique's main opposition party, the former rebel movement Renamo, has openly called for the return of Raul Domingos, the former head of the Renamo parliamentary group, to the ranks of the party.
Domingos was expelled from Renamo in 2000 for supposedly "betraying" the party, and for entering into business deals with leaders of the ruling Frelimo Party.
Although Domingos himself has said there is no chance that he will return to Renamo, Vaz, in an interview in Friday's issue of the independent newsheet "Mediafax", claimed that, in order to win future elections, Renamo should bring back to its fold not only Domingos, but all other sympathisers who have been driven away in recent internecine squabbling.
"The return of Raul Domingos is very important for victory", he said. "I am in favour of this, and I do not hide my position".
As for the frequent accusation that he is inactive, Vaz claimed that he could not do his job properly without visiting Renamo's provincial delegations.
"It is fundamental that, before anything else, I should visit the provinces to undertake a survey of what is happening on the ground. Then I can draw up ideal strategies for the next challenges for the party", he said. "But there are logistical problems hindering me from making these visits".
He insisted that he was unable to draw up a programme and a budget for Renamo without first visiting the provinces.
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Vaz claimed that he has "no problems of any kind" with Renamo leader Afonso Dhlakama.
But Vaz was not even invited to a meeting of the Renamo Political Commission held earlier this month, and he has come under public attack from Renamo spokesman Fernando Mazanga, who declared that, since Vaz was elected general secretary in late 2001, "nothing has functioned".
Meanwhile Dhlakama himself has broken his silence to give an interview to the weekly paper "Savana". But this did not deal with the simmering crisis inside Renamo.
Instead he came up with a new solution to the problem of crime. The state security service, SISE, Dhlakama said, "should infiltrate its agents into bars, restaurants, discotheques, cafes and cake shops to see how groups of criminals plan their activities".
The interview exposed Dhlakama's inability to distinguish between foreign investment and foreign aid. When asked about investment, he complained that the government "never explains how the money that enters to support our business class is spent".
The investments that enter Mozambique "are used on government games", he claimed.
