Blood feud in Tete threatens peace

The cycle of violence between Frelimo and Renamo in Moatize district continues to spiral

Good afternoon. Renamo leader Ossufo Momade visited President Filipe Nyusi at the presidency in Maputo this morning, Nyusi tweeted today. (Momade did not tweet about the meeting, though he did put out a generic tweet celebrating International Women’s Day.)

Presidente Filipe Nyusi @filipe_nyusi

Caros Moçambicanos Mantive na manhã de hoje, 8 de Março, um encontro com o Presidente da Renamo Ossufo Momade.

The two men presumably discussed how to overcome the impasse in the disarmament, demobilisation, and reintegration (DDR) process of Renamo’s former fighters. It stalled at the end of last year, with Renamo refusing to demobilise its final base in the Gorongosa mountain range, until the issue of pensions for the demobilised fighters is resolved.

But that is apparently not the only obstacle on the path to sustainable peace between the two sides. As we report today, a climate of fear is reigning in the district of Moatize, Tete province, where community leaders appointed by the Frelimo government have been targeted and in some cases killed in recent months, allegedly by Renamo militia. For their part, Renamo says its local political delegate was murdered in January, by Mozambican police — at the direction of Frelimo.

Since that incident made the news, Zitamar sent our local correspondent Fungai Caetano to follow up the situation on the ground. He found local leaders living in fear and sleeping in hideouts away from their homes; and demobilised Renamo men returning to the area, but only, they say, because a lack of pensions has left them destitute.

Incidentally, last week Fungai was recognised at a ceremony in Moatize as the best journalist in the district. We certainly think so. Parabéns, Fungai!

Fungai Caetano @fungaicaetano

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Agenda:

• Tomorrow: The Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) is hosting a conference at the Hotel Tivoli in Maputo to present a study on Mozambique’s tax treaties and how they enable tax avoidance. The conference runs from 9:00am to 11:30am and you can join via Zoom here: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/88459029287

https://bit.ly/3XCDCOb

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The latest from Zitamar News:

Alleged Renamo returnees terrorise local leaders in rural Tete

A climate of fear is reigning in Nkondedzi, Tete province, where community leaders appointed by the Frelimo government have been targeted and in some cases killed in recent months, allegedly by Renamo militia

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From the Zitamar Live Blog:

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Renamo leader Ossufo Momade visited President Filipe Nyusi at the presidency in Maputo this morning

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