RENAMO

RENAMO (from the Portuguese Resistência Nacional Moçambicana, Mozambican National Resistance) is a Mozambican political party and militant group. The party was founded with the active sponsorship of the Rhodesian Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) in May 1977 from anti-communist dissidents opposed to Mozambique's ruling FRELIMO party. RENAMO was initially led by André Matsangaissa, a former senior official in FRELIMO's armed wing, and was composed of several anti-communist dissident groups which appeared immediately prior to, and shortly following, Mozambican independence. Matsangaissa, who died in 1979, was succeeded by Afonso Dhlakama, who led the organization until his death in 2018. He was succeeded by Ossufo Momade. Critics of RENAMO frequently described the movement as a proxy of Rhodesia and latterly, South Africa's apartheid government. It has been theorised that RENAMO was formed for the sole purpose of countering FRELIMO support for the Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (ZANLA). On the other hand, RENAMO was also reflective of FRELIMO's own splintering support base and dwindling popularity in the immediate post-independence era. Its political programme centered around the abandonment of FRELIMO's socialist policies, the adoption of a free market economy, and more traditionalist concerns such as the reinstatement of tribal leaders to positions of authority. RENAMO's ranks included a number of Mozambican political exiles who genuinely opposed FRELIMO on principle, including FRELIMO defectors disillusioned with its Marxist–Leninist ideology, but also large numbers of recruits conscripted by force. With Rhodesian support, RENAMO commenced an insurgency against the FRELIMO government in 1977, sparking the Mozambican Civil War. The war was characterised by severe human rights violations on both sides and crippled the already debilitated Mozambican economy. RENAMO and FRELIMO acceded to the Rome General Peace Accords in October 1992, which ended FRELIMO's oneparty state and introduced multi-party democratic elections.