Mozambique: Renamo Deputies Accuse Attorney-General of Lying

Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique (Maputo)
April 11, 2006

Maputo

Parliamentary deputies from Mozambique's former rebel movement Renamo called the country's Attorney- General, Joaquim Madeira, a liar on Tuesday, as they reacted to his annual report to the country's parliament, the Assembly of the Republic.
The Renamo deputies were infuriated by the section in Madeira's report dealing with the bloody clashes last September in the northern town of Mocimboa da Praia.

A local by-election for mayor of Mocimboa da Praia in May 2005 resulted in a narrow victory for the candidate of the ruling Frelimo Party, Amadeu Pedro. Renamo claimed the election was fraudulent, held a series of demonstrations (in one of which demonstrators marched round the town completely naked), and on 4 September swore in their defeated candidate, Saide Assane, as the alternative mayor - an act with no legal standing whatever.

Clashes between Frelimo and Renamo supporters broke out the following day, and widespread arson and looting occurred. Madeira gave the death toll in these clashes as six - which contradicts the initial police figure of 12, and the figure, given both by Renamo and by Interior Minister Jose Pacheco, of eight.

He said that 184 houses in the town had been looted and burnt down (considerably more than the figure of 116 given in the press at the time).

Worse still, the violence had spread into the neighbouring district of Muidumbe, where 82 houses were destroyed. "The houses destroyed in Muidumbe belonged to people born in Mocimboa da Praia", noted Madeira. "They were burnt down in retaliation, because those involved began to identify political party affiliation with ethnicity, such that some people in Muidumbe decided they would no longer allow "outsiders" from Mocimboa da Praia to cultivate fields alongside theirs".

Madeira did not try to allocate blame to either Frelimo or Renamo for the violence. He said charges of murder, assault and arson have been laid against 36 people. He did not say who they are - but Renamo claims the only people arrested are its members and supporters.
Madeira claimed that "the inauguration of a candidate who did not win the elections is illegal". This came as a surprise - previously it had been argued that the ceremony swearing in Saide Assane was null and void, but not illegal. "In this case", claimed Madeira, "it was not a shadow government, which is virtual, but a true parallel government, which is illegal".

But what most angered Renamo deputies was Madeira's account of his meeting in mid-September with Renamo leader Afonso Dhlakama. He said that during the meeting, held at Dhlakama's request, the Renamo leader "recognised the illegality of a defeated candidate taking office, and unequivocally condemned the behaviour of those who swore into office a candidate who lost the election".

But that was certainly not what Dhlakama said in public, and Renamo deputy Saimone Macuiana told Madeira to his face that he was lying.

"You are distorting the Renamo President's position about Mocimboa da Praia", he accused. "Renamo would not condemn itself".

The swearing-in ceremony was merely symbolic, said Macuiana, and the violence had come from Frelimo. He cited the then Mocimboa da Praia police commander, who had been cited on Radio Mozambique, saying that it was a group of Frelimo supporters who had started the violence by attacking Renamo members returning from their party offices. "Didn't you hear that?". Macuiana asked Madeira.

"You are just trying to please those who hold power!", he declared.

A second Renamo deputy, Antonio Muxanga, also declared "The Attorney-General's been telling lies!" "Why do you associate your lies with President Dhlakama?", he asked. "Why don't you ask who burnt down the houses of Renamo members in Muidumbe?" Macuiana and Muxanga did not consider an alternative explanation for the discrepancy between Madeira's account of a private meeting with Dhlakama and the Renamo leader's public stance on the Mocimboa da Praia events - that possibly Dhlakama says one thing to the Attorney-General and the opposite to his supporters.


Fonte: allafrica