"His son is Deputy Director of STAE. That's to kill Renamo for good"

The election of the head of the Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo) list for the municipal elections on October 11 in the new municipality of Balama, Cabo Delgado province, is being contested by some native members of the party.

Local sources told MZNews that the ballot to choose the Renamo member for the October municipal elections was fraudulent. They said that the process was carried out in two rounds, in the first of which a peasant woman won.

"This generated discontent among the opponents because they were like those ladies who wake up, put on a capulana and go to the fields," said one of the sources on condition of anonymity.

In the second round, candidate Simão Amimo, the party's current Political Delegate in Balama and a member of the provincial assembly, won the race, supposedly in absentia.

"They selected the people to enter the room where the candidates' choices were to be made. There were hardly 50 people. Most people stayed outside the room and, for this reason [and others], the founding members of Renamo do not accept Simão Amimo's candidacy," he said.

She and other sources heard by MZNews said that they would prefer Balama to be led by another Renamo member, and "it could come from any province in the country".

They claim that Amimo's election was an orchestrated plan between the Renamo Political Delegation in Balama and the party's provincial Political Delegation, in order to "maintain the nepotism that has been going on for several years".

"The Political Delegate of Balama, who is also a provincial deputy, was bought by the Political Delegate of the province. They have the same idea and behavior. They are colluding," said Bruhane Tikweli, a member of Renamo.

However, as a way of challenging the choice of Simão Amimo for the municipal elections, the group of complainants gathered more than 100 signatures to oust the candidate-elect and allegedly submitted them to the Provincial Political Delegation for a second time.

They also claim that the party's Central Directorate is unaware of the real situation of their political posts in Balama, accusing the provincial political delegation of not forwarding local concerns to party headquarters.

"The Impiiri, Kuékué and Mavala posts have not been visited by the District Delegate for over two years and are out of operation. The head of national mobilization knows about it. I raised the issue when the Balama Delegate was present and he replied 'you'll sort it out yourselves'. His son is the Deputy Director of STAE. This is to kill Renamo once and for all," said another source, calling for the presence of a party brigade to find out how the posts are working.

According to the sources, the Renamo majority in Balama is already anticipating a defeat in the local elections, and if they don't, "they can put up some young guy from the market who will win those elections".

They suspect that the provincial political delegation also knows that with the candidate elected, the party will lose the elections. "He is deliberately creating barriers for Renamo in order to let Frelimo through [in the local elections]."

Renamo spokesman José Manteigas, who was interviewed by our website, said that the party was aware of the issues in Cabo Delgado. He implied that this is a common event in pre-election periods "and the party is used to it".

"We know that. These are petty things that are of no concern to us. And in times of elections, this is normal," said Manteigas, referring further clarification to the party's provincial Political Delegation in Cabo Delgado.

When contacted, Renamo's Provincial Political Delegate, Manuel Alex Muacuane, said that these were disturbances created by a citizen with political aspirations in Balama and that, in any case, the party would not be held responsible for any criminal acts that might fall on such an individual who is not recognized as a member of the party.

"We're in an election period, and when that's the case, there are various internal and external opinions. In Balama there is someone who has moved from Nacala to run as the head of the list. The Renamo party, at provincial level, and especially in Balama, does not recognize this citizen as a member. Within the party we don't want opportunists," said Manuel Muacuane, who is also a member of the Assembly of the Republic.

He explained that the aforementioned citizen - who is also not recognized in Nacala - is creating these disgraces in retaliation "for not having his candidacy accepted", but also because several criminal cases are being brought against him.

Regarding the videos circulating on social media, in which supposed founding members and the new generation of Renamo express their discontent, the Provincial Delegate said that this is fabricated work.

He revealed that he had already clashed with the citizen and another journalist who "wrote defamatory things. Unfounded and false questions".

Muacuane suspects that the citizen intends to use Renamo to achieve other shady interests. "And we don't accept any responsibility for any crime that might be committed against him."

He guaranteed that Renamo is well organized throughout the province, controlling its members and "when an intruder appears, it's very easy to distinguish, because we have ideologies that our late president Afonso Dlhakama and Ossufo Momade taught us. He is bringing ideologies that are not those of the Renamo party".

The source said that, as the party's provincial Political Delegate, he had never received any complaint, verbal or written, about the actions of the Balama district Political Delegate. "It's a lie. No document has been received in my office."