Afonso Dhlakama



Afonso Marceta Macacho Dhlakama (1 January 1953 – 3 May 2018) was a Mozambican politician and warlord who served as the leader of RENAMO, an anti-communist guerrilla movement that fought the FRELIMO government in the Mozambican Civil War before signing a peace agreement and becoming an opposition political party in the early 1990s.

After the civil war, Dhlakama focused on politics and ran for president in 1994, 1999, and 2004. He failed to win each time. He also served as an advisor to the President of Mozambique for the sake of preserving stability in Mozambique, despite the reservations he had about FRELIMO.

In later years, Dhlakama once again grew to dislike FRELIMO's governance of the country. He repeatedly threatened to reestablish RENAMO's armed forces and to let the country "burn". In 2011 he stated that RENAMO was preparing a "revolution" to rid the government from power and establishing new barracks for this purpose. He officially reorganized RENAMO as a military force in 2013 and subsequently began a new insurgency against the government. Over the next several years, several peace treaties between the two parties were signed and failed.

Dhlakama passed away on May 3, 2018 at age 65, after suffering from a heart attack. After his death, the leadership of RENAMO passed to Ossufo Momade, who is currently in hiding.