Can Bomba defuse tensions in Renamo?

Renamo's new secretary general faces a challenging situation

Good evening. Renamo, Mozambique's largest opposition party, finally has a new secretary general. Clementina Bomba was nominated by party leader Ossufo Momade and ratified last night during the fourth ordinary session of the National Council. Bomba, who succeeds André Magibire in the post (April 2019 - September 2022), was until yesterday Renamo’s delegate in Maputo province, and she is also the deputy leader of the party’s group in parliament.

The party described the appointment as 'historic', as Bomba is the first woman to hold the post of secretary-general of Renamo. Apparently, her nomination was not consensual, with some factions supporting fellow members of parliament Maria Enoque and Venâncio Mondlane. Mondlane is a charismatic young man who switched to Renamo from the second largest opposition party, the MDM, and is seen by senior members as an unstable figure, lacking the full confidence of the party.

Enoque, like Bomba, comes from a distinguished Renamo family; Enoque’s brother was a leading guerrilla who then became one of Renamo’s generals in the Mozambican army.

Celestina Bomba, meanwhile, according to today’s newsletter from AIM, “is the sister of Adriano Bomba, a Mozambican air force pilot, who defected to apartheid South Africa in July 1981. Both he and his brother, Boaventura, were executed by Renamo two years later, apparently on suspicion of involvement in the murder of the then Renamo General Secretary, Orlando Cristina.”

Clementina Bomba's nomination took many by surprise. Despite the family history she is mostly unknown and has not yet made a mark on the national political scene. Momade may deliberately have chosen someone who will not put him in the shade; but if she is not strong, Renamo’s grassroots may become increasingly disillusioned with the stale and uncharismatic leadership.

There are already voices calling for change. Yesterday, during the session where Bomba was appointed, a group of Renamo members complained that the party has become weak, and called for for an extraordinary congress to elect a new party leadership.

A senior source in Renamo told Zitamar that the party believes that Sandura Ambrósio, the protestors’ apparent ringleader, has no legitimacy to speak about Renamo's internal affairs, since he is currently a substitute in parliament on MDM’s list. However, although Ambrósio ran for parliament for the MDM, he never left Renamo, and Mozambican law allows parties to run candidates from the general public.

The party has promised a press conference tomorrow regarding Ambrósio and his group. How to deal with that situation will be one of the questions the new secretary general will have to tackle. Bomba needs to bring members together and  to win gains for Renamo in the 2023 municipal and 2024 general elections, which may be easier if there is a coalition with MDM.

---

💥 Conflict updates:

12 December 2022: Nkoé and Nova Zambézia villages, Macomia district, Cabo Delgado
The villages of Nkoe and Nova Zambezia were both attacked last night, according to multiple sources. The attackers were likely displaced by a successful military operation over the weekend to retake the nearby village of Nguida, overrun by insurgents on 6 December

---

Also in the news:

• World Bank’s Malpass tells Nyusi to sort out EDM

• President Nyusi calls for international investment in Miombo woodlands

• Thailand’s PTTEP prepares for Mozambique LNG investment in 2023