
Venancio Mondlane cabeca de lista da Renamo lanca campanha eleitoral na Cidade de Maputo. Foto de Ferhat Momade
Maputo, 24 Feb (AIM) – Venancio Mondlane, the candidate for mayor of Maputo for Mozambique’s main opposition party, Renamo, in last year’s municipal elections, is attempting to use the courts to dethrone Renamo leader Ossufo Momade.
On Friday, Mondlane submitted two complaints against Momade to the Maputo City Law Court, in an attempt to force him to call a Renamo Congress.
The last Renamo Congress, which elected Momade President of the party, was held in January 2019. There should be a Congress once every five years, and, under the Renamo statutes, Momade’s term of office expired on 17 January.
Speaking to reporters outside the court, Mondlane said “The Renamo statutes are very clear. The power to set the date for the Congress is in the hands of the President. Since no date has been set for the Congress, we are faced with a serious violation of the statutes”.
Mondlane has therefore asked the Court to notify Momade to comply with the statutes.
Mondlane has also complained that Momade is limiting the political freedom of Renamo members, which he regard as “undemocratic and anti-constitutional”.
He said that people, such as himself, who want to stand for the leadership of Renamo have been banned from undertaking political work inside the party’s delegations.
Furthermore, Momade has dismissed a large number of Renamo provincial and district delegates. Mondlane told the court that, since Momade’s term of office has expired, he no longer has the power to dismiss any Renamo officials.
Among those who hve been sacked are the Maputo city delegate, the Gaza, Tete, Manica and Zambezia provincial delegates, and the Nacala, Inhambane and Inhassoro district delegates.
These delegates had all been dismissed, said Mondlane, because they were not aligned with Momade, and had shown some sympathy for Mondlane’s ambition to lead the party.
Mondlane urged the City Court to order Momade “to restore justice” inside Renamo.
Momade and his supporters have given no reason for postponing the Congress. In early January, the Renamo spokesperson, Jose Manteigas, declared that Momade will be the Renamo candidate in the presidential election scheduled for 9 October.
This caused a storm of protest within Renamo, in which Mondlane declared he had every intention of standing for the Renamo presidency. And whoever is elected leader of Renamo will almost certainly become the party’s presidential candidate in October.
Mondlane enjoys substantial support in the ranks of the opposition, because he was the leading figure in the Renamo protests against the results of the municipal elections, widely regarded as fraudulent.
(AIM)
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