"Some actions in defence of sovereignty" may violate rights, says Chapo
Cabo Delgado: Government “must impose itself” on foreign forces’ matters, to avoid disrespect – interview
3:00 CAT | 04 Aug 2021
FILE - José Gama: "The Frelimo government should impose itself". [File photo: DW]
- The Mozambican government is devaluing itself in how it is managing the crisis in Cabo Delgado, one expert in international relations says. According to José Gama, Rwanda is operating autonomously, and Maputo is not in the front line.
Recent developments leading José Gama to these conclusions are the government of Harare bypassing Maputo and going direct to Kigali for information about Cabo Delgado, and Rwanda’s domestic reporting on its operations in Cabo Delgado, while the Mozambican government insists on maintaining its usual silence.
In an interview with DW Africa, the Angolan journalist even speaks of “autonomous action” by Rwandan troops in northern Mozambique, and says that Kigali “has a concrete objective in this conflict”. He recommends more and better coordination between Mozambique and Southern African Development Community (SADC) actors.
DW Africa: Do the events reflect lack of coordination in operations or is it disrespect for the government and sovereignty of Mozambique?
José Gama (JG): I would also say that it is a lack of a culture on the part of Mozambique to render any account to the people. So far, what has been found is that people, in order to know what is happening in Cabo Delgado at the moment, have had to turn to Rwanda. Specifically, on Mozambican television, the reporting of the first attacks by Rwandan forces was based on what Rwandan television had broadcast.
DW Africa: Does this reveal a lack of coordination between governments? Because it is the culture of the Mozambican authorities not to render accounts, which does not seem to be Kigali’s practice. That is why there was probably a need for coordination between them on how to manage communication…
JG: Yes, on the part of Kigali, which has a concrete objective in this conflict, which is its international or – one might also say – regional projection. Therefore, there is a need [for Rwanda] to render account, to show that, in fact, its army is doing some work in Mozambique. Furthermore, Kigali has sent men [to Cabo Delgado], and they may die at any time, so there is a need to clarify to the families of these people what they are doing there, otherwise the families will become angry. Kigali knows that its presence in Mozambique, the way it entered, was not very welcome. So, it is trying to show that it is transparent, that it has a culture of rendering account. Hence that almost unprecedented conference was held. For now, we are also seeing Kigali newspapers paying some attention to Cabo Delgado, but always from a propaganda perspective, to praise what they are doing in the country.
DW Africa: Even if for this the Kigali government has to devalue the Frelimo government …
JG: I don’t think the Kigali government is necessarily devaluing the Frelimo government. I would say the opposite: it is the Frelimo government itself that is devaluing itself, because the Frelimo government should impose itself. There was a meeting of the Frelimo Central Committee in May, where President Filipe Nyusi said that the Mozambican forces would be in the front line. But when Kigali does this press conference and Mozambique, in the person of [Defence] Minister Jaime Neto, reveals that it does not have the information that Kigali is passing on, this suggests that Mozambique is not on the front line.
It must be noted that the Rwandan forces are operating autonomously. Therefore, it was necessary for the Mozambican authorities to be able to impose themselves more, because this also ends up causing some disrespect for the Mozambican people. It is not that people are against the presence of the Rwandan armed forces, they are welcome. What people are asking for is some transparency in this conflict and also some respect for Mozambican sovereignty.
DW Africa: Zimbabwe’s Minister of Defence, Oppah Muchinguri, went to Rwanda as part of bilateral cooperation, but also took the opportunity to exchange information about what is happening in Mozambique. Is it legitimate and right for Harare to exchange information about Maputo?
JG: Exactly, because President Nyusi was recently in Harare, and [Mozambique] has very good, longstanding and historical relations with Zimbabwe. The position that Zimbabwe took in Kigali, in saying that it wanted to exchange views with Kigali in relation to Cabo Delgado, left in the air an idea of lack of coordination between the armies operating in Cabo Delgado. I think the most logical and practical would really be for Zimbabwe to travel to Maputo and get the information it wants. Because the Kigali army has been in Cabo Delgado for too short a period of time, not even for a month, to have military strategy and other information to provide to Zimbabwe.
This shows that something is not quite right there, and there should be better coordination between the parties, between Mozambique and SADC actors. Therefore, Mozambique should also pay more attention and give more information to its SADC partners in order to prevent what Zimbabwe did from happening – seeking information from another country that is far away, or even here, in our region.
Source: Deutsche Welle
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