Africa-Press – Mozambique. The president of Renamo, Ossufo Momade, considered today that the critical voices of his leadership are seeking “legitimacy” to achieve political positions within the main political force of Mozambique’s opposition, advocating the need for “discipline.”
“We have seen members parading through television and courts seeking legitimacy to achieve party political positions. For us, it is a failed attempt to reinvent the wheel, already invented,” said Ossufo Momade during the opening speech of the National Council of the Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo) in Maputo.
Momade, who has been leading the party since the death of Renamo’s historical leader Afonso Dhlakama (2018), and whose mandate expired on January 17, is externally and internally criticized due to alleged inaction regarding irregularities in the Mozambican local elections last October, and is also accused of negligence regarding the situation of the party’s demobilized guerrillas under the peace agreement.
One of the most critical voices of the party leadership is Venâncio Mondlane, a Renamo deputy and the party’s former candidate for the Maputo municipality in the last local elections.
Venâncio Mondlane, who has publicly announced his intention to run for the party’s presidency, recently presented a precautionary measure to the court demanding the annulment of decisions taken by the current Renamo leader, arguing that he is out of mandate, an office rejected by the Maputo City Judicial Court.
Mondlane had also filed another precautionary measure, demanding the scheduling of the next party congress, but this process was not judged because the deputy reached an agreement with the Renamo leadership to hold the organization’s general meeting between May 15 and 16.
In his speech today, Ossufo Momade rejected the accusations against him, considering that there is an “external agenda” to the party promoted by some members.
“We regret that such members have invested their time and intelligence in attributing electoral fraud to the party and, in particular, to its president, in such a way that they forgot where we come from and where we are going,” emphasized the leader, adding that Renamo’s agenda is clear: “to achieve power and serve the Mozambican people.”
The meeting of the Renamo National Council, which precedes the elective congress, was marked by skirmishes between the party’s security guards and a group of young supporters of Venâncio Mondlane in the early hours of the day.
The young people were trying to protest outside the room where the Renamo National Council meeting was taking place at the Glória Hotel in the Mozambican capital when the party’s security guards forcibly expelled them and tore up the posters they were holding in support of Venâncio Mondlane’s candidacy.
In an open letter released on Saturday, Venâncio Mondlane, who is not a member of the National Council and was not invited to today’s meeting, demanded that the body reject the proposed candidate profile for the party presidency presented by the Political Commission, considering that it violates the statutes.
According to Venâncio Mondlane, a party member since 2018 and who has served as a political advisor to Ossufo, the Renamo Political Commission proposed, among various requirements, that party members wishing to run must have at least 15 years of membership.
Three militants have already announced their intention to run for the leadership of Renamo in a year when Mozambique holds general elections, including presidential elections: the brother of the party’s historical leader Elias Dhlakama, former deputy Juliano Picardo, and Venâncio Mondlane.
Mozambique holds general elections, including presidential elections, on October 9.
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