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RENAMO behaviour a cause for concern

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THE recent withdrawal by the Afonso Dhlakama-led RENAMO from the Government in Mozambique is a cause for concern not only to Zimbabwe but to SADC as a whole.
Dhlakama, who took over the reins of RENAMO after the death of its founder leader, Andre Matsangaissa, announced that the peace agreement that it had signed with the ruling FRELIMO party in 1992 was null and void.
He is demanding a share of the country’s resource wealth.
The rebel RENAMO which had staged a 16-year civil war against the ruling FRELIMO signed a peace pact in 1992 in Rome, Italy, after a series of negotiations.
The 16-year war resulted in the deaths of around one million people.
Following the decision to pull out of Government, RENAMO has resorted to engaging in armed banditry with the hope of toppling FRELIMO from power.
Its leaders have since retreated to their traditional bush camps in the Gorongoza jungle in the centre of the country and have been responsible for a number of attacks on security forces and civilians in the area.
After RENAMO bandit attacks, the Mozambican authorities reacted by raiding Dhlakama’s Sathunjira camp in Gorongosa killing his top aide Armindo Milaco on October 21.
RENAMO, which has turned down invitations for peace talks, is irked by the fact that it has lost every election since becoming part of Government in 1992.
Some believe that a leadership struggle within RENAMO could have been one of the reasons behind the sudden surge in violence.
However, it is clear that the rebels are back in the bush to try and further the agenda of its sponsors who want to exploit the country’s natural resources.
This is a clear reflection that opposition parties that are not home-grown will never succeed in Africa as recently witnessed in Zimbabwe through the foreign sponsored MDC July 31 defeat.
What the sponsored opposition movements have in common is that they are not fighting for the black man’s cause, but are pushing the agenda of their sponsors.
It is not surprising that Dhlakama who lost the last 2009 election to President Armando Guebuza garnering only 16 percent of votes has decided to use force to come to office.
Just like Morgan Tsvangirai who once indicated that he would use violence to topple ZANU PF from power.
After losing the election in 2009, Dhlakama had initially indicated RENAMO would unleash nationwide protests, but his threats never materialised.
With the country going for polls in November, the decision by RENAMO to opt to ‘go back to the bushes’ is a clear indication it has realised it can never rule the country through legitimate means.
RENAMO has threatened to disrupt the elections.
Campaigning by interested parties in the country officially started on Tuesday, but RENAMO has refused to register.
Experts have said the move by Dhlakama may lead to the split of the grouping between the ‘bush RENAMO’ who are the party’s old-timers and the ‘parliamentary RENAMO’, made up of the 51 parliamentarians still holed up in Maputo.
RENAMO was created by the Rhodesian Intelligence Unit to serve the primary purpose of derailing ZANU PF’s war establishment in Mozambique.
The rebels made over a 100 attacks in Zimbabwe, mass killings of non-combatants, forced recruitment of child soldiers and destruction of key infrastructure.
Katiyo Tea Estates was attacked by RENAMO rebels in July 1978 and a Zimbabwe National Army base was attacked in June of 1987 creating an atmosphere of instability and apprehension in Zimbabwe.
After the Rhodesians defeat in 1980, RENAMO was handed over to the apartheid South African government.
Hence Zimbabwe has raised concerns following the re-emergence of RENAMO attacks.
The civil unrest in Mozambique is a threat to Zimbabwe’s flow of fuel and imports.
In 2012, Zimbabwe imported through Mozambique 1, 4 billion litres of fuel, 250 000metric tonnes (mt) of wheat, more than 50 000mt of rice, more than 40 000mt of flour, fertilisers, agric inputs, fish and vehicles.
Violence not only disrupts regional trade, but peace as well.
Also believed to be supporting the Dhlakama troops, is an Italian firm Eni Energy Company.
Unconfirmed media reports say that the Italian firm last year provided Dhlakama with medical supplies to set up a hospital in Gorongosa which was to offer medical help for any of his wounded men during the attacks.
The company has interests in the region where vast reserves of offshore gas and oil have been discovered and are yet to be fully exploited.
Zimbabwe with its vast resources therefore has every reason to be concerned with the rapid unfolding events in Mozambique.

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