Mozambique: Renamo Accused or Kidnap and Murder in Gorongosa

Maputo — The administrator of the central Mozambican district of Gorongosa, Manuel Jamaca, has accused the former rebel movement Renamo of kidnapping 16 people in recent weeks and dragging them off to Renamo bases in the Gorongosa bush.

Interviewed in Thursday's issue of the Maputo daily “Noticias”, Jamaca said that only three of these victims had returned alive, and the others are feared dead. He accused Renamo gunmen of murdering and abducting people linked to the ruling Frelimo Party, and turning this into a racket, demanding ransoms of 3,000 to 4,000 meticais (between 65 and 88 US dollars, at current exchange rates).

He added that if Renamo gunmen find anyone with a mobile phone on the slopes of the Gorongosa mountain range, they are tortured and accused of transmitting information to the government about the whereabouts of Renamo leader Afonso Dhlakama. Jamaca believed that Dhlakama is constantly on the move between Gorongosa, Maringue and Cheringoma districts.

Bodies, believed to be those of victims of Renamo, are being found in these districts. The most recent case, Jamaca said, was two bullet-ridden bodies, in an advanced state of decomposition, found in the Kanda area of Gorongosa.