Afonso Dhlakama: Notorious Rebel of Renamo Who Caused Chaos in Mozambique

In 1992, one of Africa’s most brutal civil wars came to an end in Mozambique. This war was being waged against the ruling Frelimo party by a rebel group, called the Mozambican National Resistance, commonly know as Renamo. Renamo was created by then white-monority govenrment of Rhodesia and then nurtured by apartheid South Africa.. An RENAMO’s sole purpose was to cause instability for Samora Machel and his Frelimo party. For 39 years, Renamo was led by the notorious rebel turned opposition leader, Afonso Dhlakama until his death in 2018. Dhlakama led Renamo as it successfully transformed itself into an efficient guerrilla army that fought in this 16-year-war. During Afonso Dhlakama and Renamo’s bid to wreak havoc in Mozambique, they resorted to brutal tactics such as burning cooperative farms, destroying bridges, railway lines and recruiting child soldiers. Inevitably the war became one of the most brutal in Africa, leaving an estimated 1 million dead and displacing millions more. By this stage, Mozambique, by almost any standards, was one of the poorest countries in Africa and the world at this. In this episode of African Biographics, we cover the story of the notorious rebel Afonso Dhlakama and the rebel-group turned political party Renamo, and how they contributed to chaos in Mozambique, even after the devastating civil-war had come to an end. **************************************************************************** Sources: RENAMO and the LRA: The History and Futures of African Child Soldiers https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/05/03/mozambiques-veteran-opposition-leader-afonso-dhlakama-dies https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/energy-government-and-defense-magazines/mozambique-independence-and-dirty-war https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/the-mozambican-civil-war-1977-1992/ https://www.africanexponent.com/post/4981-civil-war-in-mozambique-was-created-by-the-colonizers https://clubofmozambique.com/news/chronology-main-dates-in-the-life-of-renamo-leader-afonso-dhlakama/ https://www.google.com/amp/s/theconversation.com/amp/why-renamo-leaders-death-could-have-a-major-impact-on-mozambique-96284 https://africasacountry.com/2018/05/the-untimely-death-of-afonso-dhlakama https://issafrica.org/iss-today/could-afonso-dhlakamas-death-bring-permanent-peace-to-mozambique https://web.archive.org/web/20131230235024/http://newhistories.group.shef.ac.uk/wordpress/wordpress/?p=2867 ********************************************************************************************* Chapters: 00:00 - 01:26 - Introduction 01:27 - 05:18 - Renamo's Origins 05:18 - 06:08 - Afonso Dhlakama Becomes Leader of Renamo 06:09 - 09:44 - Civil War Erupts 09:45 - 12:08 - Attempts at Peace 12:09 - 14:56 - War Comes to an End 14:57 - 18:00 - Dhlakama Causes Headaches 18:03 - 19:17 - Death and Legacy ********************************************************************************************* Music: Heartbreaking Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Desert City by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100564 Artist: http://incompetech.com/ John Stockton Slow Drag by Chris Zabriskie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Source: http://chriszabriskie.com/uvp/ Artist: http://chriszabriskie.com/ Interloper Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Mercy by Kai Engel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. Feel free to reach out to us at [email protected] #Renamo #AfonsoDhlakama #Mozambique