FRELIMO SUSPENDS ITS YOUTH OFFICIALS

Mozambique’s ruling Frelimo Party has suspended the entire executive secretariat of its youth wing, the OJM (Mozambican Youth Organisation).The Frelimo Central Committee Secretary for Social Organisations, Carlos Moreira Vasco, told reporters that the decision was taken by the party’s top leadership, its Political Commission, on Monday.Moreira Vasco gave no reasons for the measure, merely stating that the suspension arose from “internal matters in the life of the organization”.He added that, as soon as possible, the OJM Central Committee will meet to elect a new secretariat. He thought that some members of the suspended Secretariat might be re-elected. The secretariat that has now been dissolved was set up following the sixth national conference of the OJM, held in Ulongue in the western province of Tete. Then Basilio Muhate was elected general secretary with an overwhelming majority of votes – 200 against just 22 for the runner-up, Manuel Formiga.At the time, Muhate pledged to dedicate himself entirely to the cause of the OJM, to empower young people, to promote employment and self-employment, and to train young people at all levels so that they could become genuine development actors.Wednesday’s issue of the independent newssheet “Mediafax” claims that Muhate has been accused of “insubordination”. The particular episode cited was a disagreement between Muhate and Frelimo General Secretary Filipe Paunde over the performance of the Maputo City OJM leadership, headed by Alex Muianga.When Paunde undertook a tour of Maputo City in mid-March, he praised the work done by Muianga and his colleagues. Two weeks later, Muhate, had a very different assessment of the OJM city leadership – so negative did he find their work that he sacked Muianga. “Mediafax” suggests that this apparent challenge to Paunde’s authority angered the Frelimo leadership and led to the Monday suspensions.Tensions had, however, been simmering for some time. At the Frelimo Tenth Congress last September, members of the OJM appeared wearing berets apparently imitated from the headgear favoured by Julius Malema (fhoto), the disgraced leader of the youth wing of the South African ruling party, the African National Congress (ANC). The OJM is said to have been severely censured for this attitude at a meeting held behind closed doors.