Venâncio Mondlane, a member of parliament and rapporteur for the Renamo caucus in the Assembly of the Republic, announced today in Nacala his candidacy for the presidency of the party, which is still in the hands of Ossufo Momade.

"Today, within the rights conferred on me and every member of the party, I come to announce, openly, eye to eye, without hesitation or fear, that I, Venâncio Mondlane, a senior member of the Renamo party, am available and will stand as a candidate for the presidency of Renamo at the next congress," he announced.

According to Mondlane, this objective had already been delegated to him by the party's President-Major, Afonso Dhlakama, while he was still alive, on the summit of Serra da Gorongosa.

During the announcement, which was applauded by those present, including the mayor of Nacala, Raúl Novinte, and one of Afonso Dhlakama's sons, identified as 'Obama', Venâncio Mondlane said he was already ready to enter the race.

"I already have the complete manifesto," he revealed, as he presented the document, in book format, to party members and supporters.

During the announcement, he strongly criticized the internal voices of the party that belittle or inferiorize younger members to the detriment of their political value.

However, he stressed that "he was already ready to be the heir to Afonso Dhlakama's ideals". And he warned that, because of the instructional dialogues held with Dhlakama, he would not enter the presidential race blindly.

"I'm going in with a focus, an objective and a strategy," he said, refusing, however, to present the content of the manifesto.

"We think that if Renamo wants to save its own honor, it won't stop anyone from running, using criteria outside its own statutes," he noted, stressing that its legal support base already has all the texts drawn up to challenge any attempt to thwart its candidacy.