Africa-Press – Mozambique. Mariano Nhongo was killed in a forest in Cheringoma district on October 11.
The wife of the late leader of the self-proclaimed “Junta Militar”, killed in combat by the Mozambican Defence and Security Forces (FDS), said last Friday (15-10) that Mariano Nhongo had lately been wandering, desperate, in the woods, “with no place to sleep, eat or even to take a shower”.
“I had nowhere to go, I had to move with him, because we couldn’t stay at home. We were being chased, until, on Monday (11-10), when I heard shots, I fled to Dondo. I went to my sister’s house, and knew nothing of what had happened in the woods,” widow Amélia Marcelino told DW Africa.
Mariano Nhongo was killed on October 11 by Mozambican government forces in a forest in Cheringoma district, central Sofala province, during an exchange of fire with a Mozambican police patrol.
“They called me to say ‘Come and see your husband, he is dead.’ I was shocked to see the man I have 13 children with dead. I was staying with him because I didn’t have a home for two years,” Amélia Marcelino said, referring to the fact that the family has been homeless since the FDS – in 2019 – burned down Nhongo’s house in Chirassicua and kidnapped five of his children.
The funeral was held this Friday (15-10) and his remains buried in Chirassicua, Nhamatanda district, in the centre of the country.
State protection for the family
Carlitos Mariano, one of the sons who returned to Mozambique from exile in South Africa to attend the funeral, is asking for state protection for the family.
“We don’t have a house, we don’t have food and we don’t have a place to live. And now we don’t have a family, because they are all in hiding. I wanted to see my family today at the funeral, but I didn’t see any faces,” the deceased’s son said.
On the day Nhongo’s death was announced, the general commander of the Police of the Republic of Mozambique, Bernardino Rafael, said that the guerrilla’s body would be handed over to his family.
Mariano Nhongo headed the self-proclaimed Renamo “Military Junta”, a dissident splinter group responsible for armed attacks in central Mozambique since August, 2019.
The group of former guerrillas that Nhongo led had challenged Renamo’s leadership and the terms of the process of Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) arising from the peace agreement of August, 2019.
The self-proclaimed “Junta Militar” thereafter carried out armed attacks in central Mozambique, claiming the lives of 30 people.
During the Peace Day celebrations in Mozambique a week ago, at a time when government forces were strengthening their operations in central Mozambique, President Filipe Nyusi promised Nhongo integration in the DDR process, but received no response.
A total of 2,307 former Renamo fighters out of an estimated 5,000 have already returned home within the scope of the DDR.
