RENAMO accused of violating ceasefire

On Monday, at the end of the 86th session in the dialogue, Pacheco told reporters that last week Renamo gunmen prevented contractors from undertaking building work in the central district of Gorongosa.

“Situations occurred which indicate violation of the agreements”, he said. “Some contractors were prevented from circulating in areas where they have jobs by Renamo men who have set up checkpoints”.

The incidents occurred in the Vanduzi administrative post, and in the Gorongosa mountain range,

“We have decided to instruct the international military observers to verify the facts from the perspective of verifying what happened and returning peace to Mozambique”, said Pacheco.

Far from denying the accusation, the head of the Renamo delegation, Saimone Macuiana, said Renamo had refused to grant access to the building contractors because it distrusted their real intentions.

There is nothing in the ceasefire agreement that gives Renamo the right to prevent business people, or anyone else, from circulating in any part of the country, or to set up check points.

Meanwhile no advance has been made in disarming and demobilising what are euphemistically referred to as Renamo’s “residual forces”. Renamo is still insisting on a “model” for the integration of its men into the armed forces (FADM) and the police, by which it seems to mean a share-out of senior positions.

Last week Macuiana specifically demanded a division of top responsibilities. “That means that when the commander comes from the government, his deputy should come from Renamo and vice versa”, he said. “The same is true for the police”.

On Monday, Pacheco categorically rejected this. “There is absolutely no room for a sharing of responsibilities in the armed forces”, he said.

Responsibility in the military was earned through professional merit and performance, he said, and Renamo could not demand responsibilities for people who had not shown such merit. The integration of Renamo “residual forces” was not a matter of dividing up senior positions, but of including Renamo men in the existing structure in accordance with their rank. Thus a Renamo captain would also be a captain if recruited into the FADM, a major would still be a major and so on.

Pacheco also announced that the total budget required for putting the ceasefire into operation is 400 million meticais (about 12.9 million US dollars). The money is mostly required for the activities of the international monitoring team, known by the acronym EMOCHM (Military Team for Observation of the Cessation of Hostilities).

EMOHCM consists of 23 foreign officers (from Botswana, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Cape Verde, Portugal, Italy, Britain and the United States) and 70 Mozambican officers, half appointed by the government and half by Renamo.

“The logistics of the entire operation are the responsibility of the Mozambican government”, declared Pacheco.

The Monday meeting also touched on the Renamo demand for separating the state from the ruling Frelimo Party. Macuiane’s main concern was with the publicly owned radio and televisions stations, RM and TVM,

He accused them of only inviting guests who attack the opposition, which is given no right of reply. “We all know that TVM and RM are public companies which survive on the basis of taxes paid by Mozambican citizens”, he said.