That Mozambique Cannot Go to War is not Good Enough
President Fillipe Nyusi is evading the same
thorny issues that former President Armando Webuza did. It is not and can never
be enough to tell the world that Mozambique cannot go to war. What the world
needs to know, at least those of us who are interested, is how Mozambique
cannot go to war. Not even why. While largely this sis an inherited problem but
the President should tell us who it is that is responsible for upsetting the
peace agreement. More than 50% of countries that emerge from civil war have in
the last 2 decades gone back to armed conflict and the major cited reason is
failure to honor peace agreements, that are largely political settlements on
power sharing calculations anyway. So who did not honor or who is not honoring
the pact in Mozambique?
The struggle for state control between the
ruling Frelimo and the opposition Renamo have been in the rise especially since
those nasty incidences of Renamo office raids in 2013 and which has recently escalated following the finance minister's admittance of huge borrowings that has led the country into a financial crisis adding to its economic woes. But both former and
current presidents have consistently downplayed any allegations of rising
tensions and possibilities of relapse into armed conflict or civil war. There are reasons to doubt
the position held by the president and his ruling party. Besides, it is clear
that Frelimo is hiding behind state power to continue carrying out certain ‘open hidden
atrocities.’ It does not mean Renamo does not commit such, after all, the guerrilla group is still armed to the teeth. But the state has the
obligation and right to protect all the people of Mozambique whether supporters
of government or not. The future does not look good if genuine efforts are not
made to address issues that have been accumulated in Mozambique since the end of the civil
war. Most importantly, the state and other interested parties need to monitor
very closely the implementation of the pacts that have been entered to in the
past otherwise the President's assurance that Mozambique cannot go to war will remain just but mere nice words.
That Mozambique Cannot Go to War is not Good Enough
Reviewed by Ibrahim Magara
on
April 20, 2016
Rating:
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