Accords pave way for polls, peace in Mozambique
MAPUTO: Landmark agreements between the government of Mozambique and the opposition-cum-rebel group known as the Mozambique National Resistance (Renamo) on the decentralisation of power, disarmament and reintegration of the latter’s combatants is set to pave the way for key elections and establish lasting peace.
Decentralisation, demobilisation and reintegration of the Renamo militants by the government controlled by the Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (Frelimo) had slowed progress of a ceasefire signed between the decades-old rival parties at the end of 2016.
The death of long-time opposition leader Afonso Dhlakama at 65, from a heart attack in May, also threatened to derail the ceasefire, culminating in the postponement of the local government elections scheduled for October and leaving the presidential polls set for next year in the balance.
But recent weeks have seen breakthroughs in the sporadically tense country.
Ossufo Momade, the new Renamo leader, and President Felipe Nyusi announced that they had agreed to a preliminary deal on the disarmament and reintegration of the militants into the police and army.
The international think tank, Armed Conflict Location and Events Dataset, welcomed the agreement.
This will hopefully pave the way for local and presidential elections.
Uncertainty surrounding the elections was further allayed after the Mozambican parliament’s reforms paved the way for the decentralisation of power, another issue that had been a source of deadlock between Frelimo and Renamo.
Following the endorsement of the latter’s demand by parliament, provincial governors will now be selected by the party that wins the local elections, instead of the president appointing them.
This opens up the prospects of the opposition governing some provinces after the 2019 elections.
Calls for decentralisation heightened following the divisive 2014 general polls that Dhlakama claimed the National Electoral Commission (NEC) had rigged.
Nyusi secured 57% of the vote to Dhlakama’s 36.6%. The third presidential candidate, Daviz Simango of the Democratic Movement of
Mozambique, also rejected the outcome.