DHLAKAMA ARRIVES IN ZAMBEZIA

Afonso Dhlakama, the leader and presidential candidate of the former rebel movement Renamo, arrived on Saturday in Quelimane, capital of the central Mozambican province of Zambezia for the next stage in his election campaign. Speaking to reporters at Quelimane airport Dhlakama declared he is confident that victory in Zambezia has always belonged to Renamo,“The owner of Quelimane has arrived”, boasted Dhlakama. “If there were others playing about with bicycles, that’s all finished”.His dismissive reference was to the second opposition force, the Mozambique Democratic Movement (MDM), which won an overwhelming victory in Queimane in the November 2013 municipal elections (which Renamo boycotted). The MDM mayor of Quelimane, Manuel de Araujo, has frequently ridden a bicycle round the streets of the city.The streets of Quelimane are full of bicycles, and one popular, if somewhat hazardous, mode of transport is the bicycle-taxi. Voters in Quelimane may not react well to sneers against their favourite mode of transport. He urged the citizens of Quelimane to deposit their trust and their votes in him. “I cannot be a symbol and the father of democracy and a fighter for this Mozambique without arriving in Ponta Vermelha (the presidential palace in Maputo). Let me try!”, he exclaimed. Dhlakama recalled that the last time he set foot in Quelimane, he was on his way to the Renamo military headquarters at Satunjira, in Sofala province two years ago. He said he was younger then, but now his hair has turned white. “In the photograph (on his campaign posters) I am younger with black hair, but it’s the same Dhlakama”, he said “Give Dhlakama the palace. I can’t just be famous. I can’t just be a symbol and a fighter”. The details of Dhlakama’s programme in Zambezia have not been released, but he is expected to visit the district of Morrumbala, regarded as a Renamo stronghold, and to address a rally in Quelimane next Wednesday.