from ARMANDO DOMINGOS in Maputo, Mozambique
Mozambique Bureau
MAPUTO, (CAJ News) – THE country is again on the brink of turmoil as a major signatory to the latest peace deal accuses the ruling Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (FRELIMO) of violating a hard-won peace deal.
The pact was signed early in 2025, months after the disputed polls in the Southern African country catapulted Daniel Chapo to the presidency.
Opponents and critics argued polls were rigged in his favour, resulting in the
death of hundreds of Mozambicans in clashes with trigger-happy government forces.
There is growing rejection of the peace deal Chapo signed with rivals earlier this year.
The pact is denounced as a ploy on paper to gain some legitimacy to Chapo, the 48-year-old lawyer and jurist who has been the fifth president.
The former governor of the southern Inhambane Province is going through arguably the toughest period for a Mozambican president.
The Mozambique National Resistance (RENAMO) is accusing Chapo of “injuring” the General Peace Agreement and “spewing hate speeches that tarnish democracy.”
“Daniel Chapo wants to govern based on dictatorship and condemns the exclusion of generals from RENAMO from the Defense and Security Forces,” RENAMO stated.
Long-time opposition figure, RENAMO, has been involved in tensions and even battlefield with the ruling FRELIMO.
In addition to the political turmoil that left hundreds dead since late 2024, Mozambique is suffering insurgency by Islamist groups in the resources-rich north.
– CAJ News