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.