Africa-Press – Mozambique. The president of Mozambique, Filipe Nyusi, said on Friday that at least 3,462 former members of what was the armed wing of the main opposition Renamo, out of a total of 5,221 such guerrillas, are already receiving their pensions as part of the reintegration process agreed between the two main parties.
The head of state said that of the 3,521 processes dealt with so far, in 3,462 pensions are already being paid, with a further 59 being processed. He made the remarks during a flag swearing-in ceremony at the Munguine Army Practical School in Maputo.
Citing data collected up to 20 May, Nyusi said that the Frelimo government had received requests from at least 4,215 demobilised former Renamo fighter, as part of campaigns to register beneficiaries of the Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR) process in the provinces of Sofala, Manica, Tete and Zambezia, in central Mozambique, and Nampula, Niassa and Cabo Delgado, in the north of the country.
Of the requests received, he said, 4,124 cases were sent to the National Institute of Social Welfare, with only 47 cases pending for data verification.
The DDR process, which began in 2018, covers 5,221 former Renamo guerrillas, including 257 women. It was concluded in June of last year with the closure of the Vunduzi base, Renamo’s last, located in the district of Gorongosa, in the central province of Sofala.
The 1992 General Peace Agreement put an end to a 16-year war between the Frelimo government’s army and the Renamo guerrillas. It was signed in Rome between Mozambique’s then president, Joaquim Chissano, and Afonso Dhlakama, Renamo’s veteran leader, who died in May 2018.
In 2013, there were further clashes between Renamo guerrillas and government forces, which lasted 17 months and only stopped with the signing on 5 September 2014 of the Cessation of Military Hostilities Agreement between Dhlakama and the then president, Armando Guebuza.
On 6 August 2019, a Peace and National Reconciliation Agreement was signed between the current president, Nyusi, and the Renamo leader, Ossufo Momade; this third deal is the one that is now being put into practice.
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