allafrica.com|Daviz Simango, the leader and presidential candidate of the Mozambique Democratic Movement (MDM), has claimed that he can solve, within 90 days, the problem of the self-styled “Renamo Military Junta”.
The Junta is a breakaway from the main opposition party, Renamo, which claims Renamo leader Ossufo Momade is “a traitor”, and does not recognise the peace agreement he signed with President Filipe Nyusi on 6 August. The Junta claims that its leader, Mariano Nhongo, is the true President of Renamo.
Gunmen loyal to the Junta are believed to have carried out a series of ambushes against vehicles in the central provinces of Manica and Sofala.
Speaking in Beira, at a rally marking the end of his election campaign, Simango criticised the Nyusi-Momade agreement, claiming that it did not take into account the integration of Renamo’s armed men back into society
“Our brothers need to be integrated”, he said. “It is not enough to sign agreements just for the sake of signing them. If the MDM wins the elections we shall solve the problem of those men within 90 days”.
He said that the MDM, once in government, will also work to bring to an end the lengthy and contorted process of fixing pensions for veterans of the independence war, and other demobilised troops. “The MDM will not discriminate against anybody”, pledged Simango.
He attacked what he called “the bad policies of the government in education, health and agriculture”, stressing that, if the MDM is victorious, it will prioritise those sectors, since they form “the triangular base for the country’s development”.
In education, he said, the problem persists of children studying in the open air, or in classrooms built out of flimsy materials. In many cases, the children in these classrooms have no desks and sit on the floor.
Teachers, he said, work under extremely difficult conditions. “We want to improve the living and working conditions of teachers, of health staff, and of public employees in general”, said Simango.
He claimed there is still no real democracy in Mozambique, because “there is a great deal of exclusion of various kinds”
“The MDM will work to ensure opportunities for all, on all fronts of economic and social life”, Simango pledged.