Maputo — The family of Afonso Dhlakama, who led Mozambique’s main opposition party, Renamo, from 1979 until his death from diabetes in 2018, is threatening to sue a minor opposition figure, Yaqub Sibindy, for using Dhlakama’s name without the approval of either Renamo or the family.
In the early 1990s, Sibindy wanted to set up an “Islamic Party of Mozambique”. This designation fell foul of the rules on party names, which must not be religious. So Sibindy rebranded his organization the Independent Party of Mozambique (PIMO), which has stood repeatedly in Mozambican elections, usually with a complete lack of success.
It did however win three seats in the municipal elections of 2003, only to lose them all in the next local elections in 2008. It has never won any parliamentary seats, and Sibindy resorted to forgery in his attempts to stand for the Presidency. The Constitutional Council, the highest body in matters of constitutional and electoral law, vets the nomination papers of all presidential candidates and found that many of the voter signatures submitted by Sibindy were invalid.
Now Sibindy is trying to make use of Dhlakama’s name and has set up what he calls the “Afonso Dhlakama Electoral Coalition” (also known as the “Afonso Dhlakama New Mozambique” coalition).
Dhlakama’s younger brother, Elias Dhlakama, who is a retired general in the Mozambican Armed Forces (FADM), cited by the German DW news agency, says the family regards this unauthorized use of Dhlakama’s name as “a moral and psycho-social aggression”.
He suspected that Sibindy wants to use his brother’s name to revive his own image and that of PIMO. He described Sibindy as “a failed politician” who was close to former President Armando Guebuza, with whom he used to exchange T-shirts “as if politics was a football club”.
Sibindy is a nephew of Dhlakama. But Elias Dhlakama says that even his brother’s children are not allowed to use the Dhlakama name for political purposes. He threatened to take the matter to court, if Sibindy does not change the name of his proposed coalition.
“Afonso Dhlakama is not an instrument, and we demand respect”, he said.
Renamo General Secretary Andre Magibire declared in Beira that Renamo will take legal measures to prevent Sibindy from using Dhlakama’s name.
“We don’t understand how the justice authorities are passing certificates for a barbarity like this”, he said, cited by the independent television station, STV.
He said that, although Sibindy was Dhlakama’s nephew, the two men had never been close. When Dhlakama died, at a Renamo base in Gorongosa district, Sibindy did not even bother to go there.