Maputo - The main contenders for Mozambique's presidential
election come from the country's two rival parties, Frelimo and
Renamo.
Both candidates have spent decades as members of their
respective parties, which continue to clash over two decades after a
bloody civil war ended.
Filipe Nyusi
Incumbent President Filipe Nyusi, 60, is running for a second term in
office as the Frelimo party candidate. The mechanical engineer joined
Frelimo, the former independence movement that has governed
Mozambique since 1975, at the age of 14.
Nyusi held managerial-level posts at the national ports and railways
authority before being appointed defence minister in 2008. He won the
presidential elections in 2014, taking over from former president
Armando Guebuza.
Since Nyusi has been in power, he has been hit by a corruption
scandal in which fellow party officials were implicated, an
insurgency of terrorist groups in his home province of Cabo Delgado
and the issue of how to manage natural gas deposits that could turn
the fortunes of the impoverished nation around.
In order to secure investment, Nyusi has had to broker peace between
his party and long-time rival Renamo, a former rebel group that's
turned into the main opposition.
The two fought a brutal civil war that ended in 1992, but violent
skirmishes between the two have continued.
In response to Renamo's demand for decentralization of power to the
provinces, Nyusi changed electoral law in 2018 and signed the Maputo
Peace and National Reconciliation Agreement with the opposition in
August.
He has vowed to restore peace to the volatile nation. Analysts,
however, say that his party will not give up power without a fight.
Ruling Frelimo Party leader and President Filipe Nyusi, at an election rally in Maputo, Mozambique. File photo: AP Photo/Ferhat Momade.
Ossufo Momade
Ossufo Momade, 58, took leadership of the Renamo party after
long-time leader Afonso Dhlakama died in 2018. This is the first time
he is running for president, although he has had a long career in
politics.
Renamo started as an anti-communist movement backed by white minority
regimes in what was then Rhodesia and South Africa, and waged the
16-year civil war against the initially Marxist Frelimo.
According to Portuguese news agency Lusa, Momade joined the Renamo
guerrillas after first serving in the ranks of Frelimo government
forces and is one of the party's best-known generals.
He started a life of politics after the war ended and spent many
years as a deputy on the opposition benches in parliament.
Chosen as interim leader in May 2018, he was elected Renamo president
at a party congress in January.
He does not enjoy the same popularity of his charismatic predecessor
who, according to Luso, contested five elections from 1994 to 2014
and held his party in a firm grip.
Momade has also faced internal resistance from a splinter group that
has called for the end of the peace accord and the cancellation of
elections.
According to Luso, the election of provincial governors, now allowed
by the law change, is an old Renamo aspiration, and the party stands
to win at least five of the 11 provinces in Mozambique.
