CHISSANO WARNS AGAINST TRYING TO TAKE POWER BY FORCE

It is one thing to take power by force, but quite another to hold onto it, warned former Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano, on Friday, in words aimed at Afonso Dhlakama, leader of the former rebel movement Renamo.During the end of year reception, offered by President Filipe Nyusi, reporters asked Chissano for his reaction to Dhlakama’s threat to seize power in six northern and central provinces as from March next year.“I think it will not be by force that he will be able to govern in those provinces”, said Chissano. “Even if he were to take power, we have seen many coups that failed”.In order to take power and rule the country, Chissano continued, Renamo and Dhlakama must do everything to earn the trust of the people. One of the ways to earn that trust, he suggested, would be to renounce the use of force. “While the law is not followed, everything he does will be illegal and anti-democratic, it will all be against his own words about democracy”, Chissano pointed out. “So it would be a political failure for him. I would advise him to persist in the path he had been following to see whether, by persuading the parties involved, legislation can be put in place for him to arrive where he wants to go, and not by force”.Chissano said that, despite Dhlakama’s promises that he will not go back to war, Renamo forces are still being trained and guns are still being distributed. This, Chissano warned, does not create trust. He added that laws can be changed, and the very structure of the Mozambican state can be altered, but that depended on following democratic rules.“A long time ago, when we began the negotiations (which led to the 1992 peace agreement between Renamo and the government), we said that institutions exist in our country, that the State exists, and must be recognised, and that laws exist and must be obeyed”, said Chissano. “But this does not mean that law and institutions cannot be changed. Laws should be changed in a democratic manner”. Chissano’s successor as President, Armando Guebuza, said that Dhlakama’s talk about seizing six provinces was another example of the “impossible promises” which he habitually makes to his supporters.