Mozambique: Amnesty allows Renamo leader, Alphonso Dhlaklama, to stand in upcoming presidential elections

Mozambique's parliament has approved an amnesty law that will allow Afonso Dhlaklama, leader of the opposition Renamo party, to leave his hideaway in the bush, sign a peace accord with President Armando Guebuza and run in a 15 October election, lawmakers have said.

The law, approved late on 12 August, also applies to Dhlakama's supporters, who have clashed with the army since 2012. The violence raised fears for stability in the southern African nation, which is hoping to attract foreign investment to develop its substantial coal and offshore gas deposits.

The amnesty is part of a peace deal between Renamo and the ruling Frelimo party, adversaries in Mozambique’s 1975-1992 civil war, and means Dhlakama will not face prosecution or arrest for the attacks carried out by his followers over the last year.

The constitution bars the incumbent Guebuza from running for a third term meaning the former Defence Minister, Filipe Nyusi, will run as the Frelimo candidate. Dhlaklama is now expected to travel to the capital Maputo to sign a formal peace accord with Guebuza ahead of the 15 October election, in which he has registered as Renamo's presidential candidate.

For further information please see next week’s issue of Mozambique Politics & Security, which will provide background and analysis about the amnesty deal, otherwise unavailable in the international press.

Elections hold key to elusive Mozambique peace deal

Aside from Mozambique’s upcoming October elections, both the government and the Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo) have announced that they have made significant progresses in peace talks and are close to reaching a deal. Government spokesman, Gabriel Muthisse said both sides have made concessions on the main points of disagreements.

Negotiators have been pursuing common grounds on issues including the integration of Renamo men in the army and the withdrawal of the army's soldiers near Gorongosa. One of four Renamo spokesmen, Saimone Macuiana, who leads the Renamo delegation in talks with the government, had said that they will soon be able to publish the terms of reference for international observers who will oversee disarmament and a ceasefire.

Bishop Dinis Sengulane, one of the mediators of the talks and who was in London last week, has told Mozambique Politics & Security that this should happen on time to allow RENAMO leader, Afonso Dhlakama, to campaign for elections. He has also hinted that some of the outstanding issues may have to wait until after the elections.

Sources say that Dhlakama is expected to return to Maputo to launch his presidential campaign sometime in August. As for a possible meeting between Dhlakama and President Guebuza, the Renamo leader says that the detention of his spokesman Antonio Muchanga has made him reconsider that possibility. According to him, Guebuza has invited him to Maputo to arrest or assassinate him.

For more news and expert analysis about Mozambique, please see Mozambique Politics & Security.

© 2014 Menas Associates