Specialists Warn that Disintegration of Renamo Could Constitute Security Risk for Mozambique

- Members take Ossufo Momade to court to demand his resignation

By Ricardo Dias

Maputo (MOZTIMES) – Renamo members have presented an injunction against the party’s president Ossufo Momade, intended to force him to call a national meeting that will decide his political future. According to specialists, the convulsions inside Renamo pose a serious risk to national security, given the militarised nature of the party.

According to Sérgio Matsinhe, the lawyer for the Renamo dissidents, the judicial path seeks to oblige the party to hold the meeting within 30 days, thus safeguarding the interests of the organisation.

“This is an injunction against Ossufo Momade to oblige him to abandon practices that are damaging the statutes of the party and the laws”, said Matsinhe.

This is the first formal action taken by a group that does not recognise the current Renamo leadership, which is held responsible for the worst election defeat in Renamo’s history – it lost its position as runner-up, and fell to third most voted party.

Last December, former guerrillas invaded and occupied the Renamo national headquarters in protest against Momade’s leadership. Although the President of the party did not appear, his security guards, known as “serpents”, attacked the protesters.

The injunction, submitted last Friday, was accompanied by a denunciation of the assaults suffered by the Renamo members, some of which resulted in injury and hospitalisation, according to sources of MOZTIMES.

One of the members of the group told reporters that, if the deadlock is not solved judicially, there could be a violent response.

Risk of violence

The disputes inside Renamo could degenerate into violence, if they are not handled adequately, warned Egídio Chaimite, a lecturer in Political Science at the Eduardo Mondlane University (UEM), in an interview with MOZTIMES.

“The military wings of Renamo are still very influential, even after disarmament. Hence, there are risks, both for the party and for the country, since these are trained people, with strategic capacities, who feel that hey have been marginalised not only inside Renamo, but in the system as a whole”, stressed Chaimite.

He argues that the injunction imposes an immediate challenge: the holding of a meeting to remove Ossufo Momade from the leadership of the party.

“How can you run an organisation when the members themselves say that you are not welcome? It is urgent to restore the dignity of the party”, he added.

Chaimite recalled that opposition to Momade’s leadership is not new but began months ago in several provinces. But, due to the respect for the military within Renamo, a solution could be found rapidly.

Worst election result ever

Renamo elected only 28 deputies to the parliament which begins sitting next week, the worst result in 30 years of democracy.

“The results are a warning from the electorate, both for Renamo which says it fought for democracy, and for Frelimo, which is based on the historical legitimacy of the liberation struggle. These narratives no longer echo in society”, Chaimite declared.

For this academic, the Demobilisation, Disarmament and Reintegration (DDR) process was badly handled and became a fiasco. The decadence of Renamo is creating space for the emergence of new political actors.

“What is most important is the health of the country, If the existing forces do not contribute to this, it would be better that they disappear. In many countries, parties emerge and disappear over time”, he concluded.

“Ossufo should have been removed a long time ago”

Sérgio Chichava, who also teaches political science at the UEM, and whose doctoral work was on the history of Renamo, argued that the members of the party are wasting their time with an injunction. He believes they should remove Ossufo Momade immediately.

“The party is destroying itself, it is becoming irrelevant. Ossufo Momade should never have run in the elections. He should have been removed a long time ago”, Chichava declared categorically.

In May, Renamo held a national meeting at which Momade was chosen as the presidential candidate for the general elections of 9 October. But the meeting was marked by controversies, including blocking the participation of Venâncio Mondlane.

Mondlane abandoned Renamo in May 2024 and ran as an independent. He came second, beating Momade and Renamo. Historically, the Renamo candidate had become leader of the opposition.

“If they had supported the candidature of Venâncio Mondlane, it would have been a different story”, added Chichava.

Like Chaimite, Chichava warned of the dangers of the disintegration of Renamo in the event of a badly implemented DDR. But he believes the impacts of this crisis will be restricted to the survival of the party, and not the stability of the country. (RD)

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