Ossufo Momade, Presidente da Renamo
Maputo, 17 May (AIM) – The Congress of Mozambique’s main opposition party, Renamo, meeting in the municipality of Alto Molocue, in the central province of Zambezia, on Thursday night re-elected Ossufo Momade for a second five year term of office.
In second place, with 147 votes, was Elias Dhlakama, the younger brother of Afonso Dhlakama, who led Renamo from 1979 until his death in 2018. This was a repeat of the result of the previous election, at the Congress held in 2019, when Momade also beat Dhlakama into second place.
In third position was Ivone Soares, Dhlakama’s niece, and the former head of the Renamo parliamentary group. She was the only woman standing for the position.
Three other candidates (former Renamo general secretary, Andre Majibire, the deputy head of the Renamo parliamentary group, Alfredo Magumisse, and Pedro Murema, a member of the Renamo Maputo city provincial council) won 65 votes between them.
Three others withdrew from the race before the voting began – they were Herminio Morais, a member of the Renamo Political Commission, Anselho Victor, the head of the training department, and Juliano Picardo, chairperson of the Renamo Tete Provincial Council.
The full results of the election were as follows:
Number of voters 674
Blank ballots 7
Invalid votes 5
Ossufo Momade 383
Elias Dhlakama 147
Ivone Soares 78
Alfredo Magumisse 48
Andre Magibire 15
Pedro Murema 2
Since Momade won an absolute majority of valid votes, there was no need for a second round of voting. The results were announced at about 05.30 local time on Friday morning. It is not clear why it took all night to count less than 700 votes.
The result could have been very different if the Renamo leadership had allowed Venancio Mondlane to stand.
Mondlane has become the best known face of Renamo. He was the Renamo candidate for mayor of Maputo in last year’s municipal elections. After the National Elections Commission (CNE) announced results widely regarded as fraudulent, Mondlane led mostly peaceful demonstrations through the streets of Maputo denouncing the fraud.
When Mondlane announced his intention of running for the Renamo presidency, Momade’s supporters acted to stop him. A profile was adopted which all candidates for the Renamo presidency were supposed to fit. This seemed designed to exclude Mondlane, since one of the requirements for candidates was that they must have been members of Renamo for at least 15 years. But Mondlane only joined Renamo in 2018.
Mondlane was elected a delegate to the Congress from the Maputo urban district of KaMabukwana, but the chairperson of the Renamo Maputo City Provincial Conference, Samuel Manjate, announced that Mondlane would not be allowed to attend the Congress, a ban that was echoed by the Renamo national spokesperson, Jose Manteigas
Mondlane’s reaction was to take out an injunction against Renamo demanding that he be allowed to attend the Congress. He was successful, and the Alto Molocue district court issued a dispatch ordering Renamo to let Mondlane into the tent where the Congress was being held.
But the Renamo leadership, and the Alto Molocue district police command, refused to implement the court order.
On Thursday morning, the court issued a second dispatch ordering the police to accompany Mondlane into the Congress. Again, the district commander refused and, although hundreds of young Renamo supporters were willing to accompany him, Mondlane decided not to risk a confrontation with the Renamo leadership, and stayed away from the Congress.
He pointed out that, under the Mozambican constitution, all Mozambican citizens and institutions must obey court decisions. The Alto Molocue police commander should therefore be arrested and charged with the crime of disobedience.
Excluding Mondlane from the Congress could prove very expensive for Renamo. At a Thursday press conference, he announced that he is considering running as an independent in the presidential election scheduled for 9 October. He might also accept offers from extra-parliamentary parties to run as their presidential candidate.
If Mondlane follows either of these paths, he will certainly take a large number of votes away from Renamo.
Mondlane said that, although he was barred from entering the Congress, he had been able to contact most of the delegates. He was convinced that, in a free vote, without intimidation from the Renamo leadership, he would win the support of at least 80 per cent of the delegates.
The second day of the Congress was also marked by violence, when Renamo security guards attacked the bodyguards of Manuel de Araujo, the mayor of Quelimane. They allowed Araujo to enter the Congress tent, but physically prevented his bodyguards (who are employees of Quelimane Municipal Council) from following him. In the ensuing fist fight, one of the bodyguards was knocked to the ground.
This was done in full sight of TV cameras, and of the police, who took no measures to stop the violence.
In television talk shows following the re-election of Momade, there were accusations that Momade is an agent of the ruling Frelimo Party, and is on the Frelimo payroll. No evidence was offered for this conspiracy theory, although it is quite likely that Frelimo would prefer to have its main opposition led by an ageing former guerrilla, rather than by a dynamic young firebrand.
The Renamo Congress is now entering an unscheduled third day, since it was impossible to elect all of the party’s other leading bodies on Thursday.
(AIM)
Pf/ (896)
