UN ENVOY: Appointment of Raul Domingos strengthens reconciliation

64 year old Raul Domingos, 64, was chief of staff of the rebel movement Renamo in the 1980s, and he was then the chief negotiator of the General Peace Agreement, signed in Rome in 1992 between the government and Renamo.

According to Manzoni, this appointment constitutes further evidence of the advances that have been made by the government in building a more inclusive country with an ongoing commitment to peace and national reconciliation.

“President Nyusi's gesture represents a historic moment for the country, as it marks the first time that a member of the opposition party has been appointed an ambassador, a scenario unimaginable just a few years ago”, said Manzoni’s document.

But in reality the links between Raul Domingos and today’s Mozambican opposition are at most tenuous.

He fell out with the then Renamo leader, the late Afonso Dhlakama, in 2000. Dhlakama had Domingos expelled from Renamo, and he then set up his own party, the PDD (Party for Peace, Democracy and Development).

But the PDD only exists on paper. It never succeeded in electing anyone to the Mozambican parliament, the Assembly of the Republic, or to the municipal or provincial assemblies. Recently nothing has been heard of it.

The only political activity of Raul Domingos nowadays takes the form of occasional radio or television interviews.

Manzoni’s release added “the importance that the Government attaches to inclusion was also evident throughout the implementation of the Maputo Peace and National Reconciliation Agreement. In recent days, 36 more Renamo soldiers were demobilized and included in the Mozambican Police.”

The success of this peace process, declared Manzoni, has earned international praise for the holistic and inclusive approach at each stage of its implementation.

“With this peace, Mozambique is on the path to a more prosperous future”, Manzoni concluded.