Economics
Mozambique Opposition Leader’s Death Risks Stalling Peace Accord
- Renamo leader’s death is ‘bad timing,’ President Nyusi Says
- Dhlakama’s niece among frontrunners to take control of Renamo
Afonso Dhlakama in Maputo on Oct. 11, 2014.
Photographer: Gianluigi Guercia/AFP via Getty Images
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The death of Mozambican opposition leader Afonso Dhlakama risks stalling the signing of an accord that seeks to permanently end years of intermittent political violence.
Dhlakama, who led the Mozambique National Resistance, or Renamo, for nearly four decades, died Thursday at the age of 65. The ruling Frelimo party blamed Renamo for a series of attacks on roads and rail lines in central Mozambique between 2013 to 2016, an allegation it denied. The parties reached a temporary truce, agreed to constitutional changes that would devolve more power to the provinces and were due to sign a peace deal soon.