Mozambique peace deal gets thumbs-up

GOVERNMENT yesterday applauded the signing a ceasefire agreement between the Mozambican government and ex-rebel group-turned-opposition party, Renamo, saying the development would foster peace and stability in the region.

Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi signed a peace accord with Ossufo Momade to end decades of hostilities that followed a devastating 15-year civil war that killed an estimated one million people.

Vice President Kembo Mohadi and Defence and War Veterans Affairs Minister Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri represented Zimbabwe.

And Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa, while a addressing a media conference on the 28th Cabinet Decision Matrix, revealed Zimbabwe’s pleasure at the development.

“His Excellency President Mnangagwa informed Cabinet that the government of Mozambique and the Renamo rebel movement were due to sign a ceasefire agreement today (yesterday).

“The agreement will entail the full integration of Renamo into Mozambique’s civil and public administration systems. Cabinet applauds this positive development, which is a significant step towards sustainable regional peace and stability,” she said.

The agreement follows successful political dialogue between the government of Mozambique and the Mozambique National Resistance (Renamo), which culminated in the signing of an agreement on Definitive Cessation of Military Hostilities, on August 1, 2019.

“We are living in a moment of hope. This is the moment of our reconciliation,” President Nyusi told a cheering crowd in Gorongosa National Park, which he said was chosen for the signing because it was where the conflict began and would now be a “sanctuary of peace and biodiversity.”

Momade said the warring sides had buried the hatchet.

“We are now brothers in peace,” he declared. “With this signing we are showing all Mozambicans and the world that we have buried our legacy of violence and now we are committed to dialogue to resolve our differences.” Renamo fought the bloody civil war with backing from white-minority regimes in South Africa and Rhodesia. When the war ended in 1992 it became an opposition party but never fully disarmed.

This is the third agreement between the government and Renamo, following the signing of the 1992 Rome General Peace Agreement and the Cessation of Military Hostilities in 2014 following a new wave of confrontation between the two parties.

Yesterday’s ceremony was also witnessed by South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa and his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame.