Secrecy of negotiations could produce “peace in pieces” in Mozambique – Analysts

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Secrecy of negotiations could produce “peace in pieces” in Mozambique – Analysts

7:27 CAT | 21 Apr 2017

(File photo)/ Dhlakama and Nyusi speak but on't meet

Renamo president Afonso Dhlakama has said that “the war is at an end”, and that he will announce a definitive truce from 5 May, at the end of the current 60-day extension, as long as there is consensus in the negotiations with the government and an assurance of his personal safety.

Political analysts interviewed by VOA say that Dhlakama’s announcement is another aspect of the “peace in pieces” and warn that the secrecy of the talks could augment the shadowy areas of the country’s pacification, since any new peace agreement will entail changes to the constitution.

“Because you have a week of peace, and then you give an extension, two months and two months and two months, what we are left with a peace in pieces,” says political scientist Domingos Rosário, adding that the secrecy of the negotiations between the president, Filipe Nyusi, and Renamo leader Afonso Dhlakama, does not allow anyone to assess the extent of any problems.

Rosário notes that, beyond any political agreement, the military issue, which is also on the table, is very complex, because it is not simply about the integration of the Renamo armed men into the police or the army.

Rosário, also a member of the non-governmental Civil Society Support Mechanism (MASC), asks whether the political agreement will allow us to change some basic issues like the constitution and other legal instruments, and warned that a much deeper agreement was needed than the simple integration of the Renamo men into the army.

Political scientist Edson Isaías also said that while all formal and informal means of securing the country’s pacification were no doubt welcome, he did not believe that Afonso Dhlakama’s pronouncement on Wednesday was the result of any intervention by his father, Régulo Mangunde, at the behest of Sofala governor Helena Taipa.

“The paths to consensus are the least, but the results do need to be consistent, because what we see so far is how the negotiations move the whole of society. So all the means to bring definitive peace are necessary,” Isaias said, adding that the Sofala governor’s informal approach was justified on these grounds.

Dhalakama’s announcement comes just days after the Sofala governor, Helena Taipo, asked Renamo’s father, Régulo Mangude, to intercede with his son to secure an end to the war.

Political analyst Martinho Marcos goes even further, saying that the next peace agreement must be final if it is not to fatally undermine Mozambique’s international standing.

Renamo leader Afonso Dhlakama and the Mozambican president resumed communications in December 2016 as a way of finding new routes to peace after long months of fruitless negotiations involving international observers.

Source: Voa Portugues