The government expects to conclude, within the next two weeks, the payment of the pensions set for the former guerrillas of Renamo, the largest opposition party in the country, covered by the recently concluded Demilitarization, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) process..

The information was provided by the government spokesman, Filimão Suaze, after the 32nd ordinary session of the Council of Ministers, which took place on Tuesday in Maputo.

"We hope that by September 23 (2023) we will have paid out the pensions as soon as they are received with the approval of the Administrative Court," announced the spokesman, who also explained that the pensions will be paid directly into the beneficiaries' bank accounts, using the mechanisms of the United Nations for Peace in Mozambique.

The spokesperson for the Executive called on DDR beneficiaries to hand in all the necessary documentation to fix their pensions at the district headquarters, district focal points, Provincial Combatants' Services, or at the Ministry of Combatants.

"We have three lines that facilitate the process of submitting applications, with the documents that must be attached (...) the conditions have been created so that there is no justification for the difficulty of submitting the documents," he said.

The process of paying pensions to the former Renamo guerrillas, according to Suaze, is already at a very advanced stage, so the government hopes "that it will be a glorious process for everyone".

The government has reaffirmed that it is complying with all the provisions of the Peace and Reconciliation Agreement, including the DDR, which includes a total of 5,221 armed Renamo men, including 257 women and 4,964 men.

The DDR, which began in July 2019 with the registration of the first group of combatants in the district of Gorongosa, in the central province of Sofala, formally ended last June.

The process is being overseen by the United Nations Secretariat for Peace in Mozambique, an institution created in 2017 by the then Swiss Ambassador Mirko Manzoni, who later became the United Nations Secretary-General's Personal Envoy to Mozambique in July 2019.