Last Renamo Military Base Fails To Close
Maputo, 21 Dec (AIM) – Contrary to expectations, the last military base of Mozambique’s main opposition party, Renamo, did not close on Monday.
The base is in Gorongosa district, in the central province of Sofala, and accommodates about 350 former members of the Renamo militia. Closing this base was supposed to bring to an end the whole Demobilisation, Disarmament and Reintegration (DDR) of the Renamo gunmen.
But it did not happen. Renamo leader Ossufo Momade did not come to Gorongosa for the ceremony, and nor was there any sign of the 350 former guerrillas.
The problem should not have been unexpected. Earlier in December, Momade had complained that the ten Renamo officers appointed many months ago to the General Command of the Mozambican police force have not yet been given jobs, and that pensions for already demobilized Renamo fighters have not yet been fixed.
President Filipe Nyusi addressed the pensions issue on Tuesday, in his State of the Nation Address given to the country’s parliament, the Assembly of the Republic. He said the government and Renamo are studying the questions of pensions for the demobilized soldiers. “We are studying a sustainable way of instituting pensions for this group of Mozambicans, so that our fellow-countrymen can be integrated into society in a dignified and productive way”.
Nyusi did not explain what the pensions initiative will look like, saying only that it should be more sustainable than “writing a cheque” to the demobilised.
Mirko Manzoni, the personal representative of United Nations General Secretary Antonio Guterres, told the radio station “Voice of America” that ‘the pension issue is not easy’ and that efforts are being made to find out ‘how to seek the resources.’
It thus looks certain that the final Renamo base in Gorongosa will not close until the new year.
(AIM)
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