via Dhlakama again threatens to “Govern by force” – The Zimbabwean 7 April 2015
Afonso Dhlakama, leader of Mozambique’s rebel movement Renamo, has once again threatened that, if the Mozambican parliament, the Assembly of the Republic, refuses to pass the Renamo bill granting autonomy to “provincial municipalities”, then he will take the provinces he wants “by force”.
Speaking on Saturday, at a rally in the central city of Beira, Dhlakama said he was aware of attempts within the ruling Frelimo Party to ensure that the Assembly (in which Frelimo holds a commanding majority) will throw out the Renamo bill.
Nonetheless, he was optimistic that Frelimo will eventually allow the bill to pass. But if it did vote the bill down, then “we shall govern by force”.
Cited in the anti-government newssheet “Canalmoz”, Dhlakama once again claimed that in reality he had won the general elections held on 15 October last year, but that Frelimo “stole the elections”.
He failed to tell the Beira crowd that the elections were fought on electoral legislation that incorporated all the amendments demanded by Renamo, and which at the time Renamo had claimed was proof against any fraud. Renamo also had literally tens of thousands of appointees at all levels of the electoral apparatus, from the polling stations right up to the National Elections Commission, most of whom reported no irregularities at all.
Dhlakama claimed that, if the Renamo bill does not pass “by consensus”, then the country will become “ungovernable”.
“We are not going to divide the country”, he said. “We are just demanding to rule in the regions where we won”.
But if the Renamo bill does not pass, “I, Dhlakama, shall form a government by force, even if I have to use a Plan B to reach power without Frelimo’s approval”.
Dhlakama tried to paint Frelimo as a party of the south, whereas Renamo was defending the interests of the centre and the north. This ancient piece of Renamo propaganda is wheeled out, even though the current President, Filipe Nyusi, comes from the northernmost province of Cabo Delgado.
Incoherently, Dhlakama also claimed that Frelimo “steals more in the south”. He claimed that, after the catastrophic flooding of 2000, the international community sent money to restock the livestock herds in the south, but “all the cattle stayed with the leaders”. No evidence was offered for this accusation made 15 years after the event.
As for the clashes between Renamo gunmen and the armed forces (FADM) last Thursday, in Guija district, in Gaza province, Dhlakama told reporters it was a Renamo base that had come under attack.
Cited by the independent television station STV, he said that the FADM unit concerned had come from Maputo “to bombard Renamo”. He added that the local Renamo commander “was very nervous, and asked for authorization to react and to destroy everything. I said no, you can’t do that”.
Renamo spokesperson Antonio Muchanga had a rather different slant. He admitted that the Renamo had only recently arrived in Guija from the neighbouring province of Inhambane. He claimed these armed men were fleeing from Frelimo “persecution” in Inhambane, and threatened that Renamo will continue to move its militia around the country. He alleged that such movements were necessary to avoid clashes with government forces.
The government believes that Renamo is deliberately moving forces southwards towards Maputo. This would be in line with Dhlakama’s threats earlier in the year to strike against the government in the capital.
After the Guija clash, at least some of the Renamo unit crossed the Limpopo river, for three of them were arrested in Chokwe district, on the south bank. Interviewed by Radio Mozambique, they confirmed that they had received orders from Dhlakama to set up a base in Maputo province.
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