Africa-Press – Mozambique. Former Mozambican presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane, who also ran for mayor of Maputo for Renamo, today said that the police intervention at the party’s national headquarters was the “final humiliation” of a “historic” force in Mozambique’s democracy.
“It’s a disgrace of all kinds. It was either accept it or have the UIR [Rapid Intervention Unit, part of the police] stomp on, humiliate and spit on the tombstone of Afonso Dhlakama. The final humiliation that needed to be done to Renamo was exactly what happened now,” said Venâncio Mondlane, who in May 2024 attempted to run for the leadership of the Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo), but was prevented from doing so by the party’s structures.
In a statement on his official Facebook account, from Norway, where he is participating in the Oslo Freedom Forum (OFF), Mondlane recalled the intervention of that police force in the protests against the general elections of October 9, 2024 – the official results of which he does not recognize – with the protests entailing around 400 deaths.
“Regardless of the problems that exist within Renamo, at the national headquarters of Renamo, the UIR – the greatest symbol of oppression of Mozambicans – storming the headquarters of Renamo with tear gas and taking former Renamo guerrillas, who are the ones who supported the Renamo struggle that led precisely to the great constitutional changes that took place in the 90s, cannot be,” he criticized.
On Wednesday, the police recaptured Renamo’s national headquarters, firing shots and tear gas to end a protest against Ossufo Momade’s leadership by former guerrillas who had been occupying the site since May 15, with at least one person injured.
“Do the people who gave orders and went to Frelimo to ask for help to authorize the attack on Renamo’s headquarters still want to continue as Renamo leaders? Do they want to continue as valid people for this country?” Venâncio Mondlane asked today. He left the party after the May 2024 congress, where he was prevented from entering and running for the leadership, in particular because of the requirement of 15 years of active membership.
The previous year, in October, Venâncio Mondlane had run for mayor of Maputo for Renamo, claiming victory despite the official results once again showing the Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo) as the winner, and subsequently leading more than 45 days of protest marches and protests in the capital.
In early 2024, Mondlane – who before joining Renamo was a member of the Democratic Movement of Mozambique – even went to court to force the Renamo leadership to call a congress to elect a new leadership, which he succeeded in doing, a process he spoke about again today, criticizing the self-proclaimed “gem” members of the party.
“When I joined Renamo, I met some people who said they were Renamo through and through. Because we were kids, they knew the real Renamo, the pure Renamo. They are the same people today, and I don’t see them taking a firm stance, I don’t see them taking a strong stance in relation to the situation that Renamo is going through”, he said, accusing these members of having done nothing to help hold the congress, challenging them to “come forward” at this stage.
“They say nothing, they are silent. And if they do something, they are doing it in secret. And if they do something, they are doing it in a cowardly way. No one shows their face (…). They should come forward now, to raise the spirit of Renamo, to save Renamo,” Mondlane said.
He asserted, however, that this position, at a time when he is creating his own party, the National Alliance for a Free and Autonomous Mozambique (ANAMALALA), does not mean any return to Renamo.
“Don’t get me wrong, I’m not here to say that I want to go back, that I want some place in Renamo. I’ve already told you, I’m moving forward. But I felt I had to make some comment,” Mondlane said.
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