The Former Mozambican armed movement REMANO is regrouping its command and reactivating its old headquarters in the Gorongosa mountain range in the centre of the country ahead of planned national “peaceful” demonstrations next month.
Renamo, the main opposition party, has in the past threatened countrywide demonstrations but has yet to go through with any, including a December “revolution” last year.
On Thursday, the 20th anniversary of the peace agreement with the Frelimo government, Renamo top brass joined about 800 former guerrillas from the central provinces of the country who were receiving military uniforms reportedly to provide security during the protests and continued their call for a new political order.
Long time Renamo leader Afonso Dhlakama, who left the capital Maputo two years ago to live in Nampula, the country’s third largest city, told the ex-combatants at a rally in Gorongosa that he would not leave his Nampula base until the ruling Frelimo addressed all his concerns.
“I will not abandon the woods where I have been since Monday. I am not going to Beira, nor the village of Gorongosa. The talks will take place here in the woods. They will come here maybe in three days, but if they delay I will not be responsible for the consequences,” Dhalakama said.
The Renamo leader has been calling for revision of the electoral law, the implementation of protocols from the 1992 Peace Agreement signed in Rome and the the improvement in living conditions for the general population.
While in Gorongosa, Renamo’s old military base during its campaign against Frelimo, Dhlakama ordered military preparedness but said he was not planning to attack anyone but only to defend himself “if provoked by government troops”.
Dhlakama has said he will not take up arms despite pressure from the demobilised forces. “I do not want to take up arms but the demobilised want to do so,” he said.
Mr Dhlakama said he is was recruiting some of the former gurerrillas to strengthen his personal guard, in preparation for November’s demonstrations.
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