Africa-Press – Mozambique. A group of around 15 members of Mozambique’s former rebel movement Renamo last Wednesday attacked and occupied the party’s offices in the northern city of Nacala.
Interviewed by the independent daily “O Pais”, the Renamo national spokesperson, Marcial Macome, confirmed that the attackers were Renamo members who were demanding that the party hold a meeting of its National Council.
Similar attacks against Renamo offices have taken place across the country, by dissidents, including demobilised Renamo guerrillas, who want to remove the party’s leader, Ossufo Momade.
The group that invaded the Nacala office severely injured the Renamo staff they found there, although the police denied initial claims that two people had died in the clash.
Macome said “we are working to ascertain the facts and identify all those involved. This kind of behaviour is unacceptable in a political organisation that is guided by democratic principles”.
He accepted that the incident reflects a broader crisis within Renamo, caused by discontent among the Renamo grass roots.
But if the dissidents think they can get rid of Momade simply by condemning him at a meeting of the National Council, they are mistaken. For, according to the Renamo statutes, only a party congress can sack the Renamo president.
The last Congress was held in the central municipality of Alto Molocue in 2024, and it re-elected Momade as Renamo president.
Macome promised that a meeting of the National Council will be held, in line with the Party statutes, but he gave no date. He said the party is taking measures to restore order and party discipline.
“We recognise that there have been failings in the management of disputes”, Macome admitted. “We are working to improve our relationship with our grass roots. Dialogue is the only path to guarantee cohesion and to safeguard the good name of Renamo”.
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