Mozambique: Foot-dragging on peace – By Joseph Hanlon

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Mozambique: Foot-dragging on peace – By Joseph Hanlon

7:02 CAT | 03 Jul 2017

10 Jun 2004, Mozambique --- Mozambique Defence Force Army stands guard during a joint exercise in Nacala, north of Maputo in Mozambique, June 10, 2004. French troops and forces from at least four southern African countries including Botswana, ended a 10-day military exercise on Thursday aimed at strengthening Africa's capability to carry out its own peacekeeping missions. | Location: NACALA, Mozambique. --- Image by © JUDA NGWENYA/Reuters/Corbis

File photo

Government failed to withdraw its troops from Gorongosa by Friday 30 June, as President Filipe promised Renamo head Afonso Dhlakama on the telephone at the beginning of May. In an independence day speech on 25 June Nyusi effectively admitted the failure to withdraw, and said that 8 of 26 positions surrounding Dhlakama’s headquarters would be vacated by the end of the week.

Dhlakama said on Thursday 29 June that 2 units had moved short distances, but none had left Gorongosa. But Defence Minister Salvador Mtumuke said Saturday that Dhlakama was wrong and the 8 units had been withdrawn on 26 June. But Mtumuke went on to say: “We have removed only the positions we occupied during the pursuit of Renamo’s armed men,” and that military positions occupied before the search operation are not covered by the withdrawal plan – in apparent contradiction to Dhlakama’s claim that there would be a total withdrawal from government positions around his Gorongosa base. (AIM Pt 1 July, Zitamar 30 June)

And negotiations are moving very slowly, with Dhlakama accusing the government of delaying. He said agreement on integrating Renamo fighters into the military and police had to be concluded by September. He also said that by the end of the year there had to be agreement on a constitutional amendment to elect governors in 2019 as well as laws covering decentralisation of power and finance to the provinces, which could be approved by parliament in early 2018. (Deutsche Welle. 30 June)

Comment: Who is in charge?

Dhlakama said Thursday that it is “impossible that the Commander-in-Chief could be disobeyed by the Armed Forces head, the Defence Minister, and the Army Chief of Staff.” Therefore, Nyusi “misled the Mozambican public and even the United Nations and all the diplomats.” (Zitamar 30 June) And Adriano Nuvunga, head of the Centre for Public Integrity (CIP), pointed out that the President is at the top of the hierarchy, above Antonio Carlos do Rosario, the senior SISE Senior Official who is CEO of MAM, ProIndicus and Ematum and who refused to provide information to the Kroll audit. (O Pais 30 June)

Nyusi has appointed his own people to key posts, notably Salvador Mtumuke as Defence Minister in 2015 and Lagos Lidimo as head of the security services, SISE, in January. Mtumuke should be above the commanders in Gorongosa and Lidimo above Rosario. But it is notable that Mtumuke, part of Nyusi’s delegation visiting Tete, publicly contradicted Nyusi and said there were no plans to withdraw from other army bases in Gorongosa. The delays in the peace process and the obstruction of the Kroll secret debt audit raise questions. Savana (30 June) argued that the power of the “securocrats” is so great that they are both blocking the audit and “imposed a more aggressive line against Renamo, leading to the deterioration of the political situation in Mozambique.”

It is clear that a significant group inside Frelimo wants to delay the negotiations to keep Dhlakama in the bush as long as possible and perhaps even push him to boycott the municipal elections. They know Dhlakama has become an effective campaigner, and winning a significant group of municipalities in 2018 would give Renamo a boost for 2019 national elections. Is it possible that senior people in the party, up to the level of the Defence Minister, do not support Nyusi’s negotiations with Dhlakama?

Or could it be the case that Nyusi (and perhaps Mtumuke and Lidimo) really do not have control over key figures in the military around Gorongosa and those in the security services linked to the secret debt. Are there forces with another agenda, or loyal to former President Armando Guebuza?.

Lidimo told Kroll that he had not been provided with any records relating to the three companies since taking office, and Savana confirmed from security sources that SISE did not pass all the information to Lidimo and that he is actually having to go out looking to see what has actually been delivered.

Is resistance to Nyusi still strong enough to derail the peace talks and the audit?

By Joseph Hanlon

Source: News Reports & Clippings