Africa-Press – Mozambique. Police yesterday retook the national headquarters of Renamo in Maputo, firing shots and tear gas to end the protest by former guerrillas, with at least one person injured.
At around 1:50 pm, members of the Rapid Intervention Unit (UIR) burst into the party headquarters at the same time that the shots, which continued consecutively and lasted for several minutes, provoked screams from those on Ahmed Secou Touré Avenue in central Maputo, which had been closed to traffic by the police shortly before.
At least one of the former guerrillas, who are contesting the party’s leadership, was injured during the operation, despite the audible instructions from one of the force’s commanders to intervene without violence.
The protest by demobilized Renamo fighters at the national headquarters, demanding the departure of the party president, Ossufo Momade, had been ongoing since May 15, with around 50 former guerrillas occupying the space since then.
Yesterday’s intervention lasted for around 30 minutes, with UIR members searching the entire headquarters and removing former guerrillas of both genders to a bus that had been positioned outside.
The fate of the former guerrillas taken by the police, chanting slogans of support for the party and Afonso Dhlakama as they left, is unknown at the time of writing.
The same police force then moved to the office of the president of Renamo a few dozen metres away, also occupied by former guerrillas, in this case since yesterday morning. Those inside were taken from the interior to the bus without any shots being fired by the police.
Criticism of Renamo leadership
Later, the police found a group of seven other former guerrillas who were “hiding” in another part of the Renamo headquarters and who were also loaded into an armoured vehicle and taken away from the premises.
“We want the party to stop its activities because if we continue like this, we are heading for the abyss. With the leadership of the president, Ossufo Momade, we will not get anywhere. And this is why we, the former Renamo warriors, want him to resign,” Edgar Silva, spokesman for the group that took over the party leader’s office yesterday, told Lusa, just hours before the police intervention.
Former Renamo guerrillas had also posted photographs and posters of the historic founding leader Afonso Dhlakama (1953-2018) outside Renamo’s national headquarters, with the same demand that Ossufo Momade step down.
“We simply believe that the president is incapable of leading the party. If he is incapable, he should give in and open himself up so that other cadres can take the helm of this party. Because we will not get anywhere like this,” insisted Edgar Silva, a former Renamo guerrilla in the northern province of Nampula.
The Renamo leadership has called for respect for the party’s bodies, asking that the differences, which are leading former guerrillas to take over facilities across the country, be resolved internally.
Ossufo Momade, whose leadership had previously been questioned, took over as president of Renamo in January 2019, after the death of Afonso Dhlakama, and was re-elected to the position in May 2024, in a process that was strongly contested internally.
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