CENTRAL Intelligence Organisation (CIO) director-general Happyton Bonyongwe on Tuesday said recent political disturbances caused by Renamo bandits in neighbouring Mozambique will not spill into Zimbabwe.
Report by Everson Mushava
Addressing a Press conference in Harare where he announced that Zimbabwe will next week host the continent’s 10th Conference of the Committee of Intelligence and Security Services of Africa (CISSA), Bonyongwe said the country’s eastern border town was safe from the Renamo insurgents.
Renamo bandits recently pulled out of the coalition government with Frelimo citing unfulfilled promises and launched attacks in Sofala province and the town of Muxungwe, killing civilians and police officers.
“I do not see Zimbabwe facing a threat from Renamo,” Bonyongwe said.
“Yes, there have been criminal incidents by Renamo. That is deplorable. However, the Mozambique government has started engaging Renamo and being an optimistic person, I am convinced the issue will be resolved. Zimbabwe is not under threat at the moment.”
Early last month, armed men from Renamo attacked a truck and a bus carrying civilians in the central Sofala province and killed two people, barely a week after another attack on a police squadron in the town of Muxungwe in which four police officers died.
The attacks rekindled memories of the 16-year post-independence civil war that ended in 1992 following a peace pact between the Afonso Dhlakama-led Renamo and Frelimo. Zimbabwean troops had to be deployed to help the Frelimo and cordon off the border area.
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Bonyongwe, who will take over the chairmanship of CISSA next week, said the continental organisation would play a key role in disseminating intelligence data on security threats.
