Mozambique “did what it could” at head of SADC Troika

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Mozambique “did what it could” at head of SADC Troika

8:53 CAT | 31 Aug 2016

Mozambique “did what it could” to carry out successfully its position in the leadership of the SADC (Southern African Development Community) body on defence, security and political cooperation, Foreign Minister Oldemiro Baloi told reporters in the Swazi capital, Mbabane, on Monday.

At the SADC summit scheduled for Mbabane on Tuesday Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi will end his term of office as chairperson of this SADC body. The SADC Troika charged with defence and security matters currently consists of Mozambique, South Africa and Tanzania.

On the eve of the summit, the Southern African Catholic Bishops Conference (SACBC) attacked the performance of the SADC troika particularly over the crisis in Lesotho, and its failure to oblige the Lesotho authorities to implement the recommendations of the “Phumaphi Report”.

SADC appointed Mphaphi Phumaphi, a Botswana high court judge, to chair the commission of inquiry into the assassination of the former commander of the Lesotho Defence Force, Maaparankoe Mahao, by members of the army on 25 June 2015.

The Commission’s report recommended that the Lesotho government should ensure vigorous pursuit of the criminal investigation into the assassination. In the meantime, the current commander of the LDF, Lt-Gen Tlali Kamoli should be relieved of his duties, and all LDF officers suspected of involvement in murder and treason should be suspended while investigations continue.

But to date the commission’s recommendations have not been implemented, A year after the murder of Mahao, the international human rights body, Amnesty International, issued a statement pointing out that “the perpetrators are still enjoying impunity. Failure to take action against those who killed him will further entrench a culture of impunity for human rights violations in the country.”

SACBC deputy chairperson, Bishop Valentine Seane, said the Catholic bishops of the region were “disappointed” that that the SADC leaders had not obliged the Lesotho authorities to implement the recommendations of the Phumaphi Report.

They also criticised the outgoing SADC chairperson, Boswanan President Ian Khama, for leadership failings. On his watch, the bishops said, Khama had offered no solutions to the crises in Lesotho, Zimbabwe and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Baloi said that, while he respected the bishops’ opinions, “they do not own the truth. The crisis in Lesotho is not a matter to be solved in two or three years. We are dealing with the Lesotho dossier, we had a permanent representative in Lesotho, who worked with the churches, and even made it possible to hold elections”.

“But since the problem is too deep, and it has to be resolved structurally, it has returned”, he said. “And we are not going to solve the problem of amending the Lesotho constitution, the reform of the security sector, and reconciliation among the citizens of the country in a year”.

The citizens of Lesotho are the subjects of any action taken, said Baloi. “We shall help. But if they don’t help us support them, what can we do?”

He said that the assessment by SADC members of Mozambique’s performance at the head of the troika for the past year was “very positive”. Chairing the troika “is a great challenge”, Baloi added. “A year passes quickly, and the dossiers facing the troika are complex, and heavy, and dealing with them is a slow business”.

Baloi also said that the conflict in Mozambique between the government and gunmen of the rebel movement Renamo is not on the agenda for the SADC summit, because the government has kept the regional body regularly informed of developments.

He did not expect either SADC or the African Union to question the government “because we took the initiative to inform them of what is going on, what problems we have and what we are doing to surpass the situation”.

Meanwhile, the SADC Council of Ministers decided on Monday to recommend that the Botswana Foreign Minister, Pelonomi Venson-Moitoi, should once again be the SADC candidate for Chairperson of the Commission of the African Union.

Venson-Moitoi stood for the post at the AU summit in Kigali in July, but the summit was unable to take a decision, and so the incumbent, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma of South Africa, remains in office.

Source: AIM