The main opposition Renamo base closed on Monday, 19, in Gorongosa, in the center of the country, putting an end to the Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) process, which continues to face much criticism and discontent from the guerrillas.

The former combatants admit that many promises remain unfulfilled.

This final chapter involved 350 guerrillas, including 50 women, bringing to an end the process that had involved more than 5,000 guerrillas.

The UN Secretary-General's special envoy, Mirko Manzoni, who led the DDR contact group, considered the closure of the base "a gain" for democracy and praised the commitment of the government authorities and Renamo.

"It's a good result because the commitment was that all the ex-guerrillas should return home for Christmas this year," with the closure of the bases, said Mirko Manzoni.

Meanwhile, Renamo continues to demand that the guerrillas be included in the Defence and Security Forces (FDS) and the army, as well as the establishment of pensions for the demobilized, a dissatisfaction of thousands of former guerrillas that has heightened discontent over the process.

For his part, Mirko Manzoni described the dissatisfaction as "an unfounded polemic" and considered that "we can't integrate people who are 60 into the police, we have to integrate people who respect minimum criteria, such as age, health".

He pointed out that many of the former guerrillas are out of integration standards, but said that the possibility of integrating the children of combatants into the DSF was under discussion.

Disgruntled former combatants

Speaking to VOA, several ex-combatants admit that many promises remain unfulfilled when the DDR is over and there is no end in sight to the dissatisfaction.

"Many of us have families to support, and we still have no source of income, and this is complicating our survival and making it difficult to live together" in the host villages, Manuel Chaguiro, a former Renamo guerrilla in Sofala, told VOA.

Among the promises, they say, the demobilized combatants should receive a survivor's pension paid by the United Nations through the Mozambican government for one year, and after this period, the ex-guerrillas will receive a lifelong pension from the state.

As well as being allocated plots of land in urban areas, the ex-guerrillas were to receive toolkits and funds to develop income-generating projects in the area of their vocation.

No automatic pension

Another ex-combatant from Manica, João Ruben, says that some of the ex-guerrillas "sold the construction material given to them during demobilization" in order to survive with their families in the cities, who still have no income.

For his part, Bonifácio Cherene, another former guerrilla, believes that apart from the reintegration allowance paid for one year when he demobilized, no one else has had access to an "automatic pension", which should be reflected in the accounts opened under the DDR.

"We've been waiting for two years. Now that everyone has been demobilized, what hope do we have?" he asked, stressing that the process was enticing, but "with falsehoods and defaults".

A total of 19 Renamo bases have been decommissioned under the DDR, a process still seen as thorny by the beneficiaries.