Africa-Press – Mozambique. President of Mozambique Filipe Nyusi said today that 645 of the more than 5,200 former Renamo guerrillas covered by the Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) process have already started receiving pensions, criticising those attempting to “misinform” the public on the matter.
“To date, 645 DDR beneficiaries have already started receiving their pensions. Those who said that this will not happen continue to say that, but things are on the ground,” Filipe Nyusi said in Maputo at the opening of the Ministry of the Interior Consultative Council.
The statement comes after public criticism from former guerrillas and commanders from the Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo, Mozambique’s largest opposition party) regarding alleged delays and problems in the attribution of these pensions, agreed with the government as part of the DDR process.
“The DDR process continues to be at the forefront of our attention (…) There is a lot of effort not to help these people understand, and some people make it a point to retrieve profits from it to the detriment of the lives of others,” the president said.
President Nyusi was updating the number of pensions allocated “precisely so that people aren’t misinformed”, and so that “those who are misinforming [people] become increasingly harmed, because they create confusion”.
“The Military Affairs Commission, made up of representatives from Renamo and the government, has been available since yesterday [Tuesday] to clarify all doubts of beneficiaries regarding pension calculation criteria, payment phases and other issues that may worry these pensioners,” the Mozambican president said in the same speech.
The DDR process, which began in 2018, covers 5,221 former Renamo guerrillas, of which 257 are women, and ended last June with the closure of Renano’s last base, Vunduzi, in Gorongosa district, Sofala province.
Until November 28th, pensioner registration activity in this context took place in the city of Nampula, with the support of local administrative authorities and service providers.
“Around 240 beneficiaries residing in Nampula province are expected to present their documentation so that they can enjoy their rights,” the president added.
“Pensioner registration activities led by the Pensions Working Group, supported by the Secretariat for the Peace Process, will continue in December in Cuamba district, in Niassa province, so we call for everyone’s greatest collaboration, to calm those who have not yet completed their documentation and, overall, to avoid premeditated disinformation aimed at demoralising and even trying to harm those who really need pensions to rebuild their lives,” he concluded.
The 1992 General Peace Agreement put an end to the 16-year war between the government army and the Renamo guerrillas. It was signed in Rome, between then-president Joaquim Chissano and Afonso Dhlakama, historic leader of Renamo, who died in May 2018.
In 2013, there were further clashes between the parties which lasted 17 months and only stopped with the signing, on September 5, 2014, of the Agreement on the Cessation of Military Hostilities, between Dhlakama and the former head of state Armando Guebuza.
On August 6, 2019, the Peace and National Reconciliation Agreement was signed, the third, which is now being materialised, between the current Mozambican president, Filipe Nyusi, and the leader of Renamo, Ossufo Momade.
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