The president of the Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo), Ossufo Momade, said on Wednesday that the "imposition" of appointed administrators, with the postponement of district elections, was "unacceptable" and that the "denial of the will expressed at the polls" threatens peace.

Referring to the sixth local elections, scheduled for October 11, the Renamo leader said at a press conference in Nacala, Nampula province, to mark the 31st anniversary of the General Peace Agreement signed in Rome between Renamo and the Mozambican authorities that "the peace we have been celebrating for 31 years cannot be called into question by denying the will expressed at the ballot box". For this reason, "as Mozambicans, we are all called upon to accept the will expressed at the ballot box and the alternation of government, because there are no eternal governments, nor eternal rulers".

Cited by Lusa, Ossufo Momade complained of hostile acts against the party during the current election campaign, accusing Frelimo of wanting to make the party "go back to the woods".

"Although they are trying to push us into war, we are not going to war (...) We are not going to war, we are going to stay here. We're going to wage war in the city," said the Renamo leader.

It should be remembered that the 1992 General Peace Agreement put an end to the 16-year war between the government army and the Renamo guerrillas, signed in Rome between then President Joaquim Chissano and Afonso Dhlakama, Renamo's historic leader, who died in May 2018.

Meanwhile, in 2013 there were further clashes between the parties, which only stopped with the signing of the Cessation of Military Hostilities Agreement on September 5, 2014, between Dhlakama and former head of state Armando Guebuza.

However, on August 6, 2019, the Peace and National Reconciliation Agreement was signed, the third one that is now being materialized, between the current President of the Republic, Filipe Nyusi, and the leader of Renamo, Ossufo Momade, providing, among other things, for the Demilitarization, Disarmament and Reintegration (DDR) of the armed arm of the main opposition party.

"Despite attempts to push us towards war, we remain firm and committed to peace, social stability and the well-being of our people. Because peace in Mozambique and for Mozambicans is our first agenda, we are resolutely pursuing the DDR process," insisted Ossufo Momade.

The DDR, which began in 2018 and covers 5,221 former guerrillas from Renamo, Mozambique's largest opposition party, including 257 women, ended last June with the closure of the Vunduzi base, Renamo's last, located in the district of Gorongosa, in the central province of Sofala.

"It is our expectation that the payment of pensions to our demobilized members will take place quickly in order to maintain peace and tranquility among our demobilized members," warned the Renamo president.

The postponement, without a new date, of the first district elections, approved by parliament through an amendment to the Constitution of the Republic, was also targeted by the Renamo leader: "We reiterate our repudiation of the violation of the Constitution of the Republic to deny the district elections, scheduled for 2024, a unilateral and undemocratic attitude by the ruling party."

"It has been a national consensus since the General Peace Agreement that leaders must be elected. Therefore, in the middle of the 21st century, the imposition of appointed administrators is unacceptable. We recognize that although we have already taken significant steps towards democracy, there is still much to be done to ensure that decisions affecting communities are taken by the communities themselves," he concluded.