He was corroborating remarks made in the northern city of Nampula on Friday, by Renamo General Secretary Manuel Bissopo.
Cited in the Nampula newssheet “Wamphula Fax”, Bissopo claimed that his party is fine-tuning its machinery to sabotage the voter registration and municipal elections scheduled for later this year.
On Friday, Bissopo met with Renamo members from all 21 districts in Nampula province. He told reporters that the purpose of the meeting was to prepare Renamo’s plans to obstruct the elections. He claimed that any attempt by the government to resist Renamo’s sabotage “will be driven back by the people”.
He claimed that similar meetings will be held in all other provinces, in order to mobilize Renamo members to continue persuading the public not to register as voters and not to go to the polls on 20 November, the date of the municipal elections.
As for violent action, Bissopo claimed this would come, not from Renamo, but from “the people”. Renamo, he said, “will protect the demonstration of the people who are tired of their votes being stolen. If, eventually, the Mozambican people decide to take up knives, machetes, axes and other sharp instruments to oppose any aggressive attempt at neutralization or intimidation by Frelimo, Renamo will not hesitate to support this legitimate reaction”.
If Frelimo insisted in what Bissopo called its “arrogance”, than Renamo “will not hesitate to smash definitively whatever armed potential it may use”.
“There will be no elections or voter registration in Mozambique”, Bissopo threatened. “We will not allow this to happen because we are tired of being deceived by the ruling party which does not accept our democratic demands”.
He insisted that Renamo would not return to its guns – but also that it would not allow any Mozambican to take part in preparations for the elections.
Mazanga echoed this sabre-rattling, but claimed that Renamo was still prepared for a dialogue with Frelimo. He added “this should not be understood as fear of war”.
He claimed that Renamo “is in combat readiness at national level”, and will respond with attacks in Maputo in the event of any military action by the government.
The excuse for all these bellicose noises is that Renamo did not get its way in last year’s debates over new electoral legislation. Renamo demanded a National Elections Commission (CNE) with a built-in opposition majority. Not only did Frelimo reject this – so did the second opposition party in parliament, the Mozambique Democratic Movement (MDM), now dismissed by Renamo as “traitors”.
The electoral laws were passed in December by Frelimo and MDM votes. Renamo did not boycott this parliamentary session (contrary to an incompetent claim made by the Lusa article) but played a full role n the debates and votes. It has subsequently refused to acknowledge the basic democratic principle that when votes are taken, the minority loses.
Mazanga claimed that the failure to accept a Renamo veto over the legislation (which he called “consensus”) “is an invitation to war”.
The only known Renamo military presence is in the central province of Sofala. Renamo leader Afonso Dhlakama, and some former Renamo generals, are living in a camp in Santunjira in Gorongosa district, along with a number of Renamo demobilized soldiers.
16 kilometres away, in Mucodzi, according to police sources cited by the independent daily “O Pais”, other former Renamo guerrillas, including some who were recruited into the Mozambican armed forces, the FADM, and are now on the FADM reserve list, are in a second base. The police say they are armed and have FADM uniforms.
A third Renamo base is in Muxungue, in Chibabava district, but the men here are neither armed nor uniformed.
The police say that all three groups have been molesting the civilian population and casing panic. They beat anyone who refuses to accept their orders. In Mucodzi, the Renamo men stop vehicles and demanded to inspect any cargo they are carrying.
The Sofala provincial police spokesperson, Fenias Mazive, told “O Pais” that the police have urged the Renamo groups to allow members of the public to circulate without hindrance.
“Renamo’s attitude in no way dignifies our democracy”, said Mazive. “We are a democratic country and citizens are free to move around in any part of the country without being molested. We have been in contact with the Renamo leadership in Sofala, in an attempt to persuade them to change their attitude, since they are certainly disturbing public order and security. We shall exhaust all our capacities for persuasion, and we believe that at some point Renamo will understand and will stop this attitude”.
Renamo has already shown that it is incapable of carrying out its threats. Since the day after his defeat in the October 2009 presidential election, Dhlakama has been threatening to hold nationwide protests against the allegedly fraudulent election results. Three and a half years have passed and not a single Renamo demonstration has taken place.
There is no sign that Renamo has the men or the means to prevent the thousands of voter registration brigades from doing their jobs, or to prevent elections in any of the 43 municipalities.
Post published in: Africa News