(NEWZIMBABWE, SAPA) Mozambique: Rebels attack top businessmen
13/11/2013 00:00:00
by SAPA
A GANG carrying guns and machetes has attacked and seriously wounded a wealthy businessman in northern Mozambique, police said on Tuesday, extending a wave of violence gripping parts of the country.
Some of the attackers wore dark green uniforms associated with members of former rebel group Renamo during the Monday assault on a property in the northern province of Nampula, police said.
"Ten men came to the smallholding, three of them dressed in Renamo uniforms carrying AK47s and the rest carrying machetes," provincial police spokesman Miguel Bartolomeu said. "They said they wanted money."
When the man, who runs a driving school, failed to give them money the group went on a rampage, attacking him and molesting his workers and security guards, Bartolomeu said.
"They attacked the owner with machetes. He is in a serious condition in Nampula Hospital," he said.
They also torched three houses and several vehicles, he said.
The attack occurred in Rampale district, about 35km outside the provincial capital, Nampula.
While the motive of the attack appears to have been robbery, it is the latest in a string of violent incidents in Mozambique, which is suffering some of the worst unrest since the end of its debilitating civil war in 1992.
Skirmishes have intensified in recent weeks between the army and fighters from Renamo, a guerrilla group-turned-opposition party that has struggled to attract voters.
Renamo has kept an undisclosed number of its so-called presidential guard in Nampula, where its leader, Afonso Dhlakama, was headquartered from 2009 until October last year, when he set up camp in the central Gorongosa mountains.
Days after government forces overran his Gorongosa base on 21 October, violence flared up briefly in Nampula province, including an attack on a truck outside the city.
Labels: MOZAMBIQUE, RENAMO
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(THOUGHTLEADER SA) The natural resource T-junction in Mozambique
By Antonio Macheve Junior
Since the beginning of the current decade, Mozambique has and continues to be a key destination for foreign direct investment. The government and international companies involved in the prospection of hydrocarbons have made several announcements of significant discoveries of natural gas in the Rovuma Basin. A South African Institute of International Affairs article informs that the country possesses more than 100 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
In addition to natural gas discoveries, the Moatize Coal Reserve in Mozambique’s northern province of Tete is believed to be the largest reserve of unexplored coal in the world.
These discoveries position Mozambique as a resource-rich country. In the broader African context, resource wealth has been proven to be a source of fortune or great misfortune for national economies and the population at large. Two examples of resource-cursed countries are The Congo (Brazzaville) and Sierra Leone where oil and diamonds respectively were used to purchase arms and fund wars leading to the decimation of ordinary individuals.
COMMENT - I think you left out a few details there. Like who is benefiting from stealing the people's resources. Which is the purpose of the whole 'resource curse' meme - avoiding apportioning blame with the western corporations who own the mines. - MrK
In contrast, it is widely known that Botswana is considered a success story in what regards the usage of export revenues from the diamond industry to foster rural development, urbanise and improve the national economy. A noteworthy programme in Botswana is the Accelerated Rural Development Programme where the state invests monies coming from the extractive industry into schools, clinics, credit extension, roads and water facilities.
You hear nothing bad about Botswana, because just like in the DRC, the western corporate ownership of their mines is not in dispute. Look a little closer, and you will see that the Botswana government receives a lot less than their 15% of the diamonds they own, that the company doing the diamond mining is De Beers, and that the people being killed and displaced are the San. - MrK
Where is Mozambique standing today?
The country is currently at a T-junction. It can either turn left or do the right thing. It is reasonable to say that in spite of its infant stage, Mozambique’s extractive industry can be weighed in terms of positives and negatives. Some of the following factors can help one make an interpretation of whether Mozambique is turning left or doing the right thing.
Mozambique is presently one of the top destinations of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the world. This is mainly attributed to its developing extractive industry, which attracts international investors and other fortune-seekers. An administrator from the Central Bank has recently affirmed that FDI grew by 40% this year. Furthermore, Mozambique’s GDP is currently growing at 7.2% annually. In the mining district of Moatize, investments in the Coal Mining Project are creating jobs for local communities. In fact, a part of the local population in Moatize works in construction projects and other low-skilled laboured jobs linked with mining operations in the district. In addition, the presence of Vale and Rio Tinto in Moatize offers a great opportunity for the involvement of local small and medium enterprises in the provision of goods and services to the multinationals. This can create jobs and support local entrepreneurs. The 2009 Industrial Development Report highlights that a resource-based economy should generate large revenues giving governments the ability to invest in its development programmes and in the enhancement of the country’s public services. Therefore, this shows that if well-managed, the extractive industry can improve the lives of ordinary Mozambicans. A report titled “Mining Versus the Communities by the Southern African Resource Watch”, which focuses on the two relocated communities surrounding the extractive projects, points out that if the companies are properly taxed and the state uses revenues to invest in the surrounding communities and the country at large, then Mozambique can escape the aid trap.
Although the extractive industry and macroeconomic growth numbers look promising, Carlos Nuno Castel-Branco, a well-known academic in Mozambique asserts that the mega-projects, large-scale capital-intensive projects such as the coal mining projects by Vale and Rio Tinto, will not benefit the Mozambican economy. Castel-Branco defends this claim by asserting that Mozambique does not have ownership or control over the projects. What’s more, a paper on this issue by Rogerio Ossemane reports that official data for two companies that are already exporting show that out of every $1000 of exports, $946 remains with the companies and only $54 was paid to the state by these companies.
At the communal level, Cateme community members, a rural community relocated by Vale to make room for mining operations, complain that they were taken away from an area near the Revobué River, where crops were irrigated naturally given the proximity to the river. Additional complaints from the resettled community in the new location include infertile land, poor housing conditions and a lack of water to bathe, wash clothes and to farm, their primary source of food and income. The population has blocked the Sena railway to protest against their poor living conditions created by the relocation by the multinationals. Many of the protesters were brutally battered by the Mozambican equivalent of Swat teams.
The country is growing and it is being administered several vaccines of investments in many forms. Some believe that these investments will not benefit the economy in the long term and others believe it will. Current events and reports show that the projects in Moatize are employing the population in the surrounding communities, but there is also evidence that the resettled communities may have lived better lives before the extractive projects.
I invite you all to consider the points I have presented and perhaps dig a little deeper in the vast, already existing literature on the extractive industry in Mozambique to make your own judgment on the turn the country is taking in this T-Junction, left or right?
Labels: BOTSWANA, MOZAMBIQUE, NEOLIBERALISM, RENAMO
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(NEWZIMBABWE, 'AGENCIES') Sekeramayi: Army ready for Mozambique fallout
03/11/2013 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter I Agencies
ZIMBABWE has not deployed soldiers in Mozambique but the army is on high alert for any fall-out from the increasingly delicate situation in the country’s eastern neighbour, defence minister Sydney Sekeramayi has said.
“There is not a single Zimbabwean soldier who has been deployed in Mozambique as we speak,” Sekeramayi said last week as he denied reports the army had deployed in Mozambique to support the Maputo government. “In the event that we decide to deploy our troops there, we will inform the nation.”
Tensions have been building between militants of the former Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo) rebel group and the Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo) government since last April, with several attacks and counter attacks reported.
During the Cold War Renamo and Frelimo fought a brutal civil war, which by the time it ended in 1992 had killed around one million people.
On 21 October, Renamo accused the ruling party of having broken their 21-year peace deal after soldiers took over its main base in the country’s central Gorongosa mountains.
Mozambique provides key access to the sea for landlocked Zimbabwe and, in the 1980s, the country was forced to intervene and back the Frelimo regime in a bid to protect its crucial road and rail trade routes.
President Armando Guebuza recently admitted that peace was under threat in Mozambique and any further escalation in hostilities would be of grave concern in Harare.
Sekeramayi said the government was closely monitoring the situation.
“We are closely monitoring the situation in Mozambique because we do not want the escalation of hostilities in that country between the government and Renamo,” he said.
“We continue to monitor the situation. We share the same border with Mozambique and we are closely monitoring the situation at our border.
“Our main concern is the security of our railway and pipe lines, so we do not want any instability in Mozambique.”
The Frelimo government has not yet approached the SADC regional grouping for help, Sekeramayi added.
“The (Maputo) government has so far not yet brought their problems to the Sadc forum so that we discuss appropriate action to take. Maybe, they will inform Sadc if hostilities continue to escalate,’’ he said.
Renamo, whose leader Afonso Dhlakama is in hiding, has insisted that it does not want to return to civil war, following the devastation of the previous 16-year conflict.
"We know the consequences of conflict. If we respond with violence we might plunge the country back in war," a spokesman for the group said recently.
"We are open for talks, but demand that the head of state and commander of the armed forces withdraw his troops from our base."
Dhlakama returned to bush last November and started retraining soldiers for a "revolution", without making clear his intentions.
Over the last six months Renamo militants have clashed sporadically with government forces and attacked civilian vehicles on the main north-south highway.
Renamo took up arms against the then-communist government of Frelimo after independence from Portugal in 1975.
The group became the country’s official opposition party after the 1992 peace agreement, but has lost every national election ever since.
Officially Renamo is demanding a bigger role in electoral bodies and its fighters' integration into the government forces.
But more than 20 rounds of talks with Frelimo over the past 10 months have stalled with little progress.
The party is boycotting upcoming local polls on November 20 after refusing to register until electoral reforms are passed.
It failed to table its suggestions in parliament, saying Frelimo's overwhelming majority meant they would probably be voted down.
It has been highly critical of the Frelimo government, which it accuses of politicising the state and stealing the impoverished, yet coal-and-gas rich country's resources.
Labels: MOZAMBIQUE, RENAMO, SYDNEY SEKERAMAYI
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(SUNDAY MAIL ZW, REUTERS) Rio Tinto withdraws employees from Mozambique
Sunday, 03 November 2013 00:00
Mining company Rio Tinto is withdrawing the families of expatriate employees from Mozambique for their safety in a sign that an upsurge in kidnappings and violence is worrying investors. Other major companies developing big coal and gas reserves in the former Portuguese colony, Brazil’s
Vale, US oil company Anadarko and Italian oil and gas group Eni, said they were closely following political developments there, after clashes between the government army and opposition Renamo guerillas.
London-listed Rio Tinto, which mines and exports coal from north-west Tete province, said in a statement it was arranging to send home the families of foreign employees.
It announced the move a day after tens of thousands of Mozambicans marched in the capital Maputo and two other cities to protest against the threat of armed conflict and a recent spate of kidnappings by criminals.
“The safety of employees and their families is the number one priority,” Rio Tinto Coal Mozambique said, calling this a temporary precaution.
Its coal operations, including shipments, continue as planned, it said.
Seeking to reassure foreign investors and donors, President Armando Guebuza said last week he did not believe Mozambique ran the risk of sliding back into the kind of civil war that ravaged the country from independence in 1975 to 1992.
That conflict, which killed up to one million Mozambicans, was fought between Renamo and Guebuza’s Frelimo party.
Armed partisans of Renamo opposition leader Afonso Dhlakama have carried out sporadic raids and ambushes since April and in the last two weeks have clashed with government troops in central Sofala province and in Nampula province in the north.
Vale, which is also mining coal in Tete, and Eni, which is exploring large untapped offshore gas deposits in Mozambique’s Rovuma Basin, said they had no immediate plans to follow Rio Tinto’s action.
“We do not currently see a risk to our staff but we are of course monitoring the situation,” an Eni spokesman said. — Reuters.
Labels: MOZAMBIQUE, RENAMO, RIO TINTO
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(NEWZIMBABWE) Renamo could spark Zim economic crisis
27/10/2013 00:00:00
by Tafadzwa Musarara
THE re-emergence of insurgencies being inflicted by RENAMO (Resistencia Nacional Mocambicana) in Mozambique threaten the economic interests of Zimbabwe and must be repelled with military might before further escalation occurs.
Given its historical banditry exploits, Renamo has double the capacity of Al Shabbab and Boko Haram combined and its actions can be least be described as deadly.
The recent attacks on Mozambique’s security stations by RENAMO in the past six months is posing biggest risk to the flow of key fuel and food imports into Zimbabwe via Beira and Maputo.
Zimbabwe, last year, imported through Mozambique 1.4 billion liters of fuel, 250,000MT of wheat, more than 50,000MT of rice, more than 40,000MT of wheat flour, several thousands tones of fertilizers, agricultural inputs, fish, and vehicles.
It is apparent that if the RENAMO’s current insurgencies escalate, these critical imports will be unable to reach our mainland and consequently cause serious food shortages and massive price hikes.
The Refugees exodus, which has already started, albeit, in small numbers, will grow out of control. The Zimbabwe Government, with its limited fiscal legroom, will undoubtedly be unable to financially attend to the needs of these refugees.
Further, the disappearance of the so called humanitarian NGOs after the July 31 plebiscite will only leave the poorly funded United Nations to deal with this crisis single handedly. Already, United Nations is failing to provide for the refuges situation in the Middle East due to the Syria Civil War.
Who is RENAMO?
RENAMO was formed in 1975 to serve as anti Communist political establishment mainly sponsored by the former Rhodesian regime’s intelligence unit. Its first leader, Andre Matsangaissa was killed by the Mozambican Army on 17 October 1979 and was succeeded by Alfonso Dhlakama who leads the organization up to present day.
The group waged civil war since 1975 to 1992 and was primarily established to basically achieve mainly three objectives. Firstly, the idea was to destabilize and extinguish the Frelimo government in Mozambique that was and is still championing the black majority rule so that they takeover as a government subservient to western economic interests.
Secondly, it was to ensure that Mozambique did not provide a launching pad for the African National Congress’s Umkhonto weSizwe which was fighting for the fall of the Apartheid regime in its motherland. The Nkomati accord was signed by the governments of South Africa and Mozambique to have all ANC cadres resident in Mozambique expelled and in return, the South African regime would stop supporting RENAMO materially and financially.
Off course, FRELIMO did not honor this covenant and the RENAMO support continued. Thirdly and more importantly, militarily demolish ZANU-PF’s war infrastructure in Mozambique and inflict a delibetating blow to the prosecution of the Second Chimurenga. Its sponsors included West Germany, Apartheid South Africa’s regime, Portugal and America’s CIA.
RENAMO committed unprecedented mass killings of non-combatants including women and children, forced recruitment of child soldiers, destruction of key national infrastructure. During its reign of terror, RENAMO made 101 attacks in Zimbabwe, which included deadly attacks on a Zimbabwe army base near Dukosa on 17 June 1987 and a month later in July, also attacked the Katiyo Tea Estates destroying valuable assets and killed three men in Rushinga.
A 1992 peace pact saw Renamo forming a political party and allowed to contest in the Mozambican general elections up to present date. In 1994, Joachim Chissano trounced Dhlakama in a Presidential race winning by 53.3% against 33.7%. Later in 1999 he lost again to Chissano by 52.3% to 47.7%. In 2004, Dhlakama was embarrassed again when Armado Guebuza won 63.7% of the vote against 31.7%.
Renamo’s top commander, Daviz Simango led a splinter group and formed a new political party signaling serious fissures within the former rebel movement and discontent due to Dhlakama’s geriatric rule.
In October 2012, Renamo moved its headquarters from Maputo to Casa Banana in Gorongosa area and Dhlakama declared unilaterally the termination of the peace agreement. Now the insurgencies have started again in Mozambique.
In April 2013, Renamo militants attacked the riot police headquarters in central Mozambique killing several police details and wounding hundreds in an attempt to “rescue” fellow militants who were under lawful custody. On 17 October this year, Renamo commomerated the death of their first leader by ambushing a military patrol in Gorongosa killing 7 soldiers. The onslaught continues.
West’s deafening silence
The developed and democratically advanced leading nations of the west remain notoriously quiet on the latest conduct of Renamo. The United Nations have come and gone without America moving motion to impose sanctions on Renamo We now see another M24 Rebel Movement –like in Mozambique, which will be heavily armed and resourced and let to indulge with impunity.
The recent discovery of coal and gas in some areas formerly controlled by Renamo is a serious manifestation of a resource curse syndrome. It seems they are already investors lining up to make deals with Dhlakama despite the potential of destabilizing the entire SADC region.
It is definitely not a coincidence that there is no civic society in Mozambique funded by the West to report and protest against the shenanigans of Dhlakama and his Renamo as was the case in Marange where Farai Maguwu and his coterie where well oiled by CANADA and USAID to tell the world of non-existent genocide.
Off course the securocrats are best placed to deal with this unfolding drama but it’s uncontroverted that action has to be taken now. It will give business the necessary comfort if the Beira-Forbes route is now guarded by joint military personnel (Zimbabwe and Mozambique).
The current Renamo threat has the potential of altering the trading terms on Beira bound shipments including a big increase in insurance premiums on all shipments destined for Beira and definitely the Zimbabwe consumer will fit the bill.
Labels: MOZAMBIQUE, RENAMO
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(NEWZIMBABWE) Mozambique army attacks Renamo camp
13/08/2013 00:00:00
by Agencies
MOZAMBICAN government forces attacked a guerrilla camp of the Renamo opposition group in a flareup of violence ahead of local and presidential elections between former foes from the country's devastating 17-year civil war.
Sporadic bloodshed this year has raised fears that Mozambique, one of Africa's fastest-growing economies with major foreign investors developing its huge coal and natural gas deposits, could slip back into open conflict.
The latest clash occurred at the weekend in the Muxungue district of Sofala province, scene of other confrontations this year between armed supporters of Renamo chief Afonso Dhlakama and the security forces of the Frelimo government.
Dhlakama has demanded reforms, including changes to an electoral system he calls biased, from President Armando Guebuza. Local elections are to held in November with a presidential vote due in 2014 in the former Portuguese colony.
Interior Ministry spokesman Pedro Cossa told reporters in Maputo that one soldier was killed and another injured in the weekend assault on the Renamo camp at Pandje. Cossa said he had no information about Renamo casualties.
Renamo spokesman Fernando Mazanga put the government death toll at 26 and said the guerrillas had suffered no losses. He added that 37 soldiers and police were wounded.
In a statement, the rebel group-turned-opposition party said it had first clashed with Frelimo government forces on Saturday.
"Renamo security forces responded promptly to fire from FADM (Armed Forces of Mozambique) and FIR (Police Rapid Intervention Force) causing 29 deaths," it said.
"The next day... there was a new onslaught by the forces of the Frelimo government and it was again answered promptly and killed seven," Renamo said, claiming the deadly exchange of fire was in self-defence.
No independent witnesses were available to reconcile the conflicting claims.
Big investors include Italy's ENI group, which said on Tuesday it had agreed to pay $400 million tax on the $4.2 billion sale of a Mozambique gas field stake to China and also build the country a power station.
Renamo raids in April and June in Sofala killed at least 11 soldiers and police and six civilians, forcing a temporary suspension of some coal exports to the coast by rail, reducing road traffic and causing tourist cancellations.
Renamo was formed as an anti-communist rebel group in the 1970s by the secret service of neighbouring Rhodesia in retaliation for Mozambique sheltering guerrillas fighting the white-minority government.
Later, Renamo was adopted by the apartheid-era South African military but stopped fighting under a 1992 peace pact to become Mozambique's leading opposition party.
Since 1992, Dhlakama's party has lost successive elections to Frelimo that he has attributed to fraud. Dhlakama and a group of his guerrilla veterans in October went back to his former jungle civil war base in the Gorongosa region.
He said he feared for his safety.
Cossa said government forces were trying to restore order in the wide area around Dhlakama's camp.
Both sides have said they do not want war and have continued to negotiate over Renamo's demands for a more balanced electoral body and the integration of its fighters into the army and the police.
Labels: MOZAMBIQUE, RENAMO
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(NEWZIMBABWE) Renamo leader says ready for talks
04/07/2013 00:00:00
by AFP
MOZAMBIQUE’S former rebel commander said Wednesday he was prepared to leave his bush camp for talks with the government after strained relations boiled over into deadly violence this year.
"The day President Guebuza withdraws the forces that are encircling Satunjira, Gorongosa, I can go to Maputo. It could be tomorrow [Thursday]," Afonso Dhlakama, president of Renamo, said from his camp in the centre of the country.
Bloody clashes since April marked increasingly strained relations between ruling party Frelimo and Renamo, which is also the official opposition.
On Sunday, President Armando Guebuza said he was willing to meet with Dhlakama, 60, in the capital.
Thousands of army troops and crack riot police contingents converged around Dhlakama's base after armed men attacked civilian vehicles travelling along the country's main north-south highway late June.
Renamo had threatened such actions, but denied responsibility for the attacks.
"Since (Guebuza) has problems pulling his troops out I invite him to come to Gorongosa … so that we can bring this to an end. Because I cannot be fingered for blame when I am not guilty," Dhlakama said in a statement broadcast by independent television TIM.
His movement demands a change in electoral laws, which it claims unfairly privileges Frelimo.
It also wants more representation of its soldiers in the country's armed forces.
Several rounds of talks between their movements failed, the latest last Monday.
The unofficial ceasefire as well as parliament's announcement of an extra-ordinary session to allow Renamo deputies to table changes to the election law may signal a thaw in relations.
Though the government has played down the violence, there are fears of a return to a 16-year civil war that had destroyed the economy and killed one million people by the time it ended in 1992.
But Dhlakama signalled bringing him back from political isolation would not be easy.
He slammed his Frelimo counterpart as "not a serious leader".
Guebuza, in power since 2005, has meanwhile come under fire for his lack of negotiation.
Independent local media have branded him "arrogant".
"Guebuza has gained a reputation for being an anti-dialogue person and needs to use this opportunity to change perceptions," Victor Igreja, researcher with the University of Queensland, told AFP.
Frelimo won 75% of the vote in 2009-polls, but has been criticised for politicising the state and corruption.
Labels: ARMANDO GUEBUZA, MOZAMBIQUE, RENAMO
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SADC must thwart plans to destabilise Mozambique
By Editor
Tue 02 July 2013, 14:00 CAT
The threats to peace and stability being posed by Renamo in Mozambique are very worrying. And the Southern African Development Community must step up efforts to thwart plans to destabilise Mozambique and the region by Renamo.
We are very worried about possible instability in the region if a civil war breaks out in Mozambique. There is need to support unity in Mozambique. We also want continued peace in Mozambique, and we should not entertain a situation that will be against the interests of Mozambique and the region.
The recent utterances and threats issued by Renamo leader Afonso Dhlakama are extremely worrying. Dhlakama has made it clear he is preparing to go to war to achieve his demands: "If it is necessary, we can go backwards. We prefer a poor country than to have people eating from our pot. I am training my men up and, if we need to, we'll live here and destroy Mozambique."
The war in Mozambique will bring untold suffering to the people of that country and our region. And it will reverse all the economic, social and political gains that have been made so far.
We therefore urge the Southern African Development Community and the African Union, to deal with the disturbing development in Mozambique as a matter of urgency.
The conflict in Mozambique threatens not only the gains we have made but also our collective future. One destablising conflict anywhere in our region is one too many.
We should treat the question of peace and stability in our region as a common challenge. We all know where we are coming from. We also know the history of Renamo. We have not forgotten the fact that Renamo was originally founded with the help of white-ruled Rhodesia's intelligence services and then backed by apartheid South Africa. Renamo was used to destabilise Mozambique, which was then a host to the African National Congress and the Zimbabwean freedom fighters under Robert Mugabe's Zanu. They caused a lot of damage to that country.
Renamo accuses the ruling Frelimo of maintaining a stranglehold over politics and the economy and stacking the election commission to ensure victory in a presidential vote next year. Renamo and its followers think that the political system is not inclusive enough. Resentment at Frelimo's dominance of politics and elections since the end of the war has also been accompanied by opposition allegations that the party's leaders are not hogging the spoils of the coal and gas bonanza. There is a feeling that an elite is getting rich and becoming wealthy, and that others are not.
And for as long as the majority of the people anywhere in our region feel oppressed, are not allowed meaningful democratic participation in decision making processes, and cannot elect their own leaders in what are seen and are accepted to be free and fair elections, there will always be tension and conflict.
The Frelimo government should try to diffuse tension by opening up economic and political opportunities for Renamo, for example, by addressing its demands for a more independent and representative electoral authority.
Of course, right now neither Renamo nor Frelimo seems to have the military capacity to go back to fighting an all-out conflict of the kind that left Mozambique in ruins two decades ago. We may also be lucky that there seems to be zero popular support for war from a Mozambican population of 23 million which has come to appreciate an existence of peace but still remains among the poorest in the world, scraping by on an average income of only US$400 a year.
There is need for a spirit of give and take in Mozambique. The peace that Mozambique has enjoyed over the last two decades was, to some measure, a product of a negotiated peace settlement.
There are today fears that even sporadic attacks could badly undermine Mozambique's recent economic gains. It might start as a small fire now. But a small group of determined, disgruntled people with some military training could still cause havoc and suffering.
Mozambique has made some progress that shouldn't be thrown away so easily. Hailed as a post-conflict success story, Mozambique has emerged as one of the brightest stars in the rising Africa narrative, enjoying growth rates of more than seven per cent. Surely, this is something that shouldn't be thrown away so easily because of political disappointments.
Attacks and disruptions to key exports and transport corridors could badly choke the enthusiasm of investors.
The danger is that, if not well managed, we will see increased polarisation as we move towards next year's elections. There is time to step back, but it requires genuine give and take.
There is no need to return to the bush. But if situations like these are not handled well, the bush will return to us. There is no need for violence. A decision on which the future of a country will depend should not be left to the impulses of emotion and passion. Violent changes in structures would be fallacious, ineffective in themselves, and not conforming to human dignity, which demands that the necessary changes take place from within - that is to say, through a fitting awakening of conscience, adequate preparation and effective participation of all. We believe in the productiveness of peace in order to achieve justice. We also believe that justice is a prerequisite for peace.
This situation demands all-embracing, courageous, urgent and profoundly renovating transformations. We should not be surprised, therefore, that temptation to violence is surfacing in Mozambique. One should not abuse the patience of a people that for years has borne a situation that would not be acceptable to anyone with any degree of awareness of human dignity.
If it is true that insurrection can be legitimate in the case of evident and prolonged tyranny that seriously works against fundamental human rights, and which damages the common good of a country, whether it proceeds from one person or from clearly unjust structures, it is also certain that violence generally generates new injustices, introduces new imbalances, and causes new disasters; one cannot combat a real evil at the price of a greater evil.
If we consider, then, the totality of the circumstances of our countries, and if we take into account our general preference for peace, then enormous difficulty of a civil war, the logic of violence, the atrocities it engenders, the risk of provoking foreign intervention, illegitimate as it may be, the difficulty of building a regime of justice and freedom while participating in a process of violence, we earnestly desire that the dynamism of the awakened and organised community be put to the service of justice and peace.
It is up to us to denounce everything which, opposing justice, destroys peace.
Labels: MOZAMBIQUE, RENAMO, SADC
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SADC must thwart plans to destabilise Mozambique
By Editor
Tue 02 July 2013, 14:00 CAT
COMMENT - RENAMO has always been an outfit for hire, and was run out of South Africa during apartheid. The question is hiring and funding them now? - MrK
The threats to peace and stability being posed by Renamo in Mozambique are very worrying. And the Southern African Development Community must step up efforts to thwart plans to destabilise Mozambique and the region by Renamo.
We are very worried about possible instability in the region if a civil war breaks out in Mozambique. There is need to support unity in Mozambique. We also want continued peace in Mozambique, and we should not entertain a situation that will be against the interests of Mozambique and the region.
The recent utterances and threats issued by Renamo leader Afonso Dhlakama are extremely worrying. Dhlakama has made it clear he is preparing to go to war to achieve his demands: "If it is necessary, we can go backwards. We prefer a poor country than to have people eating from our pot. I am training my men up and, if we need to, we'll live here and destroy Mozambique."
The war in Mozambique will bring untold suffering to the people of that country and our region. And it will reverse all the economic, social and political gains that have been made so far.
We therefore urge the Southern African Development Community and the African Union, to deal with the disturbing development in Mozambique as a matter of urgency.
The conflict in Mozambique threatens not only the gains we have made but also our collective future. One destablising conflict anywhere in our region is one too many.
We should treat the question of peace and stability in our region as a common challenge. We all know where we are coming from. We also know the history of Renamo. We have not forgotten the fact that Renamo was originally founded with the help of white-ruled Rhodesia's intelligence services and then backed by apartheid South Africa. Renamo was used to destabilise Mozambique, which was then a host to the African National Congress and the Zimbabwean freedom fighters under Robert Mugabe's Zanu. They caused a lot of damage to that country.
Renamo accuses the ruling Frelimo of maintaining a stranglehold over politics and the economy and stacking the election commission to ensure victory in a presidential vote next year. Renamo and its followers think that the political system is not inclusive enough. Resentment at Frelimo's dominance of politics and elections since the end of the war has also been accompanied by opposition allegations that the party's leaders are not hogging the spoils of the coal and gas bonanza. There is a feeling that an elite is getting rich and becoming wealthy, and that others are not.
And for as long as the majority of the people anywhere in our region feel oppressed, are not allowed meaningful democratic participation in decision making processes, and cannot elect their own leaders in what are seen and are accepted to be free and fair elections, there will always be tension and conflict.
The Frelimo government should try to diffuse tension by opening up economic and political opportunities for Renamo, for example, by addressing its demands for a more independent and representative electoral authority.
Of course, right now neither Renamo nor Frelimo seems to have the military capacity to go back to fighting an all-out conflict of the kind that left Mozambique in ruins two decades ago. We may also be lucky that there seems to be zero popular support for war from a Mozambican population of 23 million which has come to appreciate an existence of peace but still remains among the poorest in the world, scraping by on an average income of only US$400 a year.
There is need for a spirit of give and take in Mozambique. The peace that Mozambique has enjoyed over the last two decades was, to some measure, a product of a negotiated peace settlement.
There are today fears that even sporadic attacks could badly undermine Mozambique's recent economic gains. It might start as a small fire now. But a small group of determined, disgruntled people with some military training could still cause havoc and suffering.
Mozambique has made some progress that shouldn't be thrown away so easily. Hailed as a post-conflict success story, Mozambique has emerged as one of the brightest stars in the rising Africa narrative, enjoying growth rates of more than seven per cent. Surely, this is something that shouldn't be thrown away so easily because of political disappointments.
Attacks and disruptions to key exports and transport corridors could badly choke the enthusiasm of investors.
The danger is that, if not well managed, we will see increased polarisation as we move towards next year's elections. There is time to step back, but it requires genuine give and take.
There is no need to return to the bush. But if situations like these are not handled well, the bush will return to us. There is no need for violence. A decision on which the future of a country will depend should not be left to the impulses of emotion and passion. Violent changes in structures would be fallacious, ineffective in themselves, and not conforming to human dignity, which demands that the necessary changes take place from within - that is to say, through a fitting awakening of conscience, adequate preparation and effective participation of all. We believe in the productiveness of peace in order to achieve justice. We also believe that justice is a prerequisite for peace.
This situation demands all-embracing, courageous, urgent and profoundly renovating transformations. We should not be surprised, therefore, that temptation to violence is surfacing in Mozambique. One should not abuse the patience of a people that for years has borne a situation that would not be acceptable to anyone with any degree of awareness of human dignity.
If it is true that insurrection can be legitimate in the case of evident and prolonged tyranny that seriously works against fundamental human rights, and which damages the common good of a country, whether it proceeds from one person or from clearly unjust structures, it is also certain that violence generally generates new injustices, introduces new imbalances, and causes new disasters; one cannot combat a real evil at the price of a greater evil.
If we consider, then, the totality of the circumstances of our countries, and if we take into account our general preference for peace, then enormous difficulty of a civil war, the logic of violence, the atrocities it engenders, the risk of provoking foreign intervention, illegitimate as it may be, the difficulty of building a regime of justice and freedom while participating in a process of violence, we earnestly desire that the dynamism of the awakened and organised community be put to the service of justice and peace.
It is up to us to denounce everything which, opposing jutice, destroys peace.
Labels: MOZAMBIQUE, RENAMO
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(NEWZIMBABWE, REUTERS) Rio Tinto halts exports over Renamo threats
26/06/2013 00:00:00
by Reuters
MINING company Rio Tinto has suspended coal shipments from northwest Mozambique after the opposition Renamo party, a former guerrilla group, threatened to disrupt the Sena railway "coal corridor" to the Indian Ocean.
Although no attacks have been reported on the line, which snakes through 600 km (375 miles) of jungle from the coal fields in Tete province to the port of Beira, gunmen killed at least two people in ambushes on main roads in the region this week.
The attacks started two days after a public declaration of hostilities by Renamo last week that raised fears of a return to civil war in the southern African nation, two decades after the end of a 16-year conflict in which one million people died.
"We have paused our operations on the rail line while we assess the current situation in Mozambique," Rio Tinto said in a statement to Reuters.
Production at the company's Benga mine was continuing, it added.
Brazilian rival Vale, which is investing $4 billion in coal mines near Tete and is the main user of the Sena line, said it was still using the track but had increased security.
"We are alert, observing the events, avoiding unnecessary exposure in zones of potential conflict and interacting with other companies looking to obtain the best information possible," Vale said in a statement.
Rio's decision is the first concrete sign of economic fallout from the campaign by Renamo, which says it has missed out on an economic boom in the last decade based on massive foreign investment in the coal sector and off-shore natural gas.
The former guerrilla movement, founded in the mid-1970s with the backing of white-ruled Rhodesia and apartheid South Africa, is demanding political reforms, including a shake-up of the election commission, as a condition for halting its attacks.
For the last two months, Renamo and Frelimo, the formerly Marxist ruling party, have held talks about talks on political reform but made no headway.
Speaking on Tuesday, the 38th anniversary of independence from Portugal, President Armando Guebuza played down the seriousness of the violence, saying a few isolated incidents did not mean an end to peace.
"The government remains firm in its determination to find an answer to these questions through dialogue," he told reporters.
The army is already escorting convoys of vehicles on main roads in central Sofala province and foreign embassies have told tourists to avoid all but essential travel to the region, Renamo's wartime stronghold.
However, in a sign of a possible olive branch from the security forces, Army Chief of Staff General Paulino Jose Macaringue was replaced by General Graça Tomas Chongo, a general believed to have good relations with Renamo.
"He enjoys their support," said Mozambique expert Alex Vines at London's Chatham House think tank.
"The government is considering its options, while seeking further talks. The dangers for both sides of miscalculation are high."
Mozambican media said passenger services had also been reduced on the Sena line, which runs past Renamo's base in the remote Gorongosa mountains, from where guerrillas launched frequent attacks on the tracks during the war.
Analysts say a slide back into the all-out conflict that crippled Mozambique in its initial years of independence is unlikely, not least because Renamo lacks the capacity for a sustained fight.
However, Renamo is thought to have as many as 1,000 men under arms with the ability to wage a limited insurgency that could damage infrastructure and unnerve investors lining up to pour billions of dollars into the energy and mining sectors.
Labels: RENAMO, RIO TINTO
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(NEWZIMBABWE) Ncube the big winner of Maputo
18/06/2013 00:00:00
by Thamsanqa Zhou
SO the SADC summit which was dubbed as a make or break Zimbabwean election theatre script has now come and delivered resolutions that continue to tap into the high adrenaline levels that parties in our GPA sketch went in with.
Summit back row rumour has it that Ministers Tendai Biti, Elton Mangoma, Pricilla Misihairabwi and some Tanzanian folks were seen clearing their throats, faking a sneeze before losing the will to be honourable and burst out in laughter during what should have been serious deliberations. The comedy was not the look in an agitated adrenaline-filled face of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, but a response to the hurricane but humorous delivery by the leader of what has often been described as the other MDC, Professor Welshman Ncube, the “Vunguman”.
Like most Zimbabweans, I love football. I am a life supporter of Highlanders and Arsenal and have long known that when I watch a match between Highlanders and Dynamos or Arsenal v Manchester United with someone who supports the opposite team, we would differ fundamentally on who played better and if, after a deliberate Rio foul on Theo in the box, the referee was right not to award a penalty. But even then, there are days when all fans come to conclude that van Persie was the man of the match, hands down.
In a similar polarised environment, where everyone was desperate to claim credit and victory, it appears to be the undisputed view of those who attended Maputo, from all political divides that the man of the summit, based on performance, effectiveness and results, was the Vunguman. But is this a significant arrival of a future President, or just another minor scene in this theatre of tribalised Zimbabwean politics?
The drama was to play out in rumours that Finance Minister Biti took over the Presidential suit and refused to budge when PM Tsvangirai arrived. PM advisor Alex Magaisa, speaking as one in the know has rubbished the hotel rumours but the moral of that story remains that the summit was so important to both MDCs in so far as it needed a legal delivery. There were many whispers in the MDC-T. Some were anxious and would have preferred Minister Biti to do the talking for the party in place of an often blundering PM. There was no room for mediocre performance. It needed a seasoned lawyer. The stakes were too high. The old fox had gone too far.
Relief and joy is evident from Biti’s rushed communication post summit to the public. Both MDCs and democracy loving Zimbabweans have one man to thank - Welshman Ncube - for rising to the occasion. It is said
By whom? - MrK
that he delivered a Usain Bolt of a speech that left an aging President Mugabe embarrassed, forcing his party into a retreat and a grateful PM Tsvangirai. Biti even hinted Zimbabwe needed Ncube as part of the coalition package going forward.
Not even a speech can safe the MDC. ;) - MrK
President Mugabe has said that the outcome of the summit, recommending that he approaches Zimbabwe’s Constitutional Court to ask for “one or two weeks” more is a happy outcome. The MDCs have celebrated the courage of SADC to return Zimbabwe to common sense and constitutionalism.
The question that many will be asking themselves long after the Maputo tents come down is: “Who was the winner in Maputo?”
President Mugabe and Zanu PF have been claiming victory of sovereignty by arguing that SADC acknowledged the verdict of the Constitutional Court of Zimbabwe and thus reaffirmed the principle of non interference in member states’ judiciary systems. They may also be having quiet celebrations on the idea that both SADC and the ConCourt have identified it as Mugabe’s responsibility to approach the court and following the judgement, call for elections.
The MDCs, despite their protests have until now, not challenged both the ConCourt on this using what PM Tsvangirai has often called the “GPA is clear that he cannot do it unilaterally.” Others have also doubted Tsvangirai’s assertion that it is him as PM who must be consulted while ignoring the fact that he has worked with Mugabe hand in glove to deny Prof Ncube the same GPA right to be consulted.
There is a second thinking that Mugabe played a dummy by pushing for compliance with the 31 July ruling to gain ground on the SADC and the other parties in the negotiations. It is an old trick of negotiations where you demand more than what you really want and hope that the negotiated outcome would be closer to what you really want. This is cited especially by those who say in the event that the ConCourt agrees to a 2 week extension it is Mugabe who wins more ground than Tsvangirai because the latter was calling for elections in October 2013. Could it be that Mugabe has always eyed 15 August as the election date?
By coincidence or design, Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa of Zanu PF is the man tasked with approaching the ConCourt following the SADC resolutions. Do I hear someone say he may, if he chooses, present a weak case? There is also a legal possibility that the man who brought the initial action may challenge the jurisdiction of the court to hear a case when the executive through the President has already complied by calling for elections.
The two scenarios are not likely to change much. If one considers that Zanu PF were calling for their primary elections on the 24th June, just 4 days before the sitting of the nomination court, one can assume that they always knew there would be a two week extension. The elections are likely on the 14th or 15th August 2013. That may explain why Mugabe did not seem bothered by the outcome of the SADC summitand called it a happy outcome. Foxy!
MDC-T on the other end can bring the champagne bottles and claim victory for constitutionalism and common sense. SADC has taken on board, the need to address media reforms and for securocrats to call a press conference and pledge to respect the constitution. For others like Biti, the very fact that Prof Ncube saved the day vindicates those in MDC-T who have always argued that a united MDC is a better ship to go into the election sea with. Their Matabeleland leadership may be dragging their feet for fear of being squeezed out by MDC led by Ncube, “the man from Vungu.”
The biggest winner by a mile though is Prof Welshman Ncube, the Vunguman. Here is a man that started it all, in a room with Brian Kagoro, Priscilla Misihairabwi, and others including Tawanda Mutasa, Deprose Muchena etc. They started the NCA that then gave birth to the MDC.
Although Ncube was the founder of the vehicle that took Zimbabwe by storm in 1999, he looked at himself as others would have. He is a clever former ZAPU member, educated, eloquent, and principled but belongs to “the wrong tribe” being from Lower Gwelo or “Vungu” as Biti would say. It was convenient to invite Tsvangirai, then Secretary General of ZCTU to lead the party.
Prof Ncube had an opportunity to lead when the MDC split in 2005 on an issue many now accept he was right on and Tsvangirai wrong. At that point, the Ndebele tribe tag and lack of political respect that went with it led to that faction inviting an exiled former student leader Arthur Mutambara. Mutambara brought rocket politics that flew over grassroots and lost Ncube and his party seats in parliament.
When Prof Ncube finally took over from Mutambara at Congress, it is said repeatedly that he was humiliated time and time again by Tsvangirai and Mugabe who took Mutambara under their wings during the tea and pancake sessions for GPA principals. Mugabe refused to make the Vunguman the Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic. Cry my beloved tribe. He took it in his stride and waited for his day in Maputo for revenge.
Many Zimbabweans generally agree that Ncube has the quality to be a President but just like Peter Kenneth of Kenya, many think he can not win because he is a Ndebele.
This is why Maputo was important for Ncube. When he rose to the occasion, he is said to have delivered a compelling legal case against what Mugabe had done. It was his MDC’s position, as given in Education Minister David Coltart’s communication before the summit that a timetable allowing the full 30 day voter registration and inspection of voters’ roll. His party has always called on due legal process to be followed and for the constitution to be respected while the MDC-T has emphasised on pending GPA reforms rather than process.
So when the SADC leaders listened to the “Vunguman” and saw Mugabe pause, it would have been a great relief for Ncube. When Biti told the world what he had done in the summit, Ncube had at last earned the respect to be considered as an equal. It is unlikely that Tsvangirai will continue shunning Ncube in the GPA meetings but seek to work with him.
When in 1999 many Zimbabweans realised that Joshua Nkomo a great leader they should have voted for, it was too late to change the course of history. Likewise, when the true story of the SADC summit is told one day, many Zimbabweans will reflect and realise that at times, the tribalised politics may leave us with inadequate leaders. My Shona friend calls it: “Kufa nenyota makumbo ari mumvura.”
Unfortunately for my tribesman, Prof Ncube, the Vunguman, it will take another five years for some Zimbabweans to be tribe-blind. He will be an important player and now a respected politician. The people in Murambinda and Chendambuya will not see his brilliance and capabilities because the SADC Summit goings-on will not be televised.
Tsvangirai supporters now emphasise his tribe and origin by calling him “Save,” to quench the voters’ tribal thirst. You have to give it to him, our dear PM. It is likely that even if the MDCs unite, it is Tsvangirai’s face that will be tied onto tree barks and pasted on dilapidated factory walls.
The Vunguman may have to accept that not many with our PM’s level of education or lack of it and his unique face have achieved what he has in life. I am sure his mother would have told him that he was the most handsome boy in the village. Confidence is everything in politics. He who believes, wins. Maputo speaks to what is possible.
Kujik’othandayo.
Labels: RENAMO, SADC, WELSHMAN NCUBE
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(NEWZIMBABWE, AFP) Mozambique slams deadly Renamo raid
18/06/2013 00:00:00
by AFP
COMMENT - How odd. There is a SADC conference on Zimbabwe in Maputo, Mozambique, and all of a sudden RENAMO revives. Remember who funded and created RENAMO to begin with. Also, Rio Tinto is owned by Rothschild Bank (see Rothschild.info Timeline). - MrK
THE Mozambican government on Tuesday blamed opposition party Renamo for an attack a day earlier on a military arms depot that killed at least five soldiers amid faltering peace talks between the two parties.
"We were surprised by the tragic news that Renamo unleashed an armed attack," said Jose Pacheco, the ruling Frelimo's chief negotiator with Renamo.
Talks were set up after military skirmishes in April.
"We condemn this attack and warn that this attitude does not help democracy," Pacheco, who is also agriculture minister, was quoted as saying by Radio Mozambique.
Five soldiers died and two were wounded in an attack on an arms depot near the coastal city of Beira early Monday morning, according to state media.
"We received five bodies. They were the victims of shooting," Beira Central Hospital spokesperson Orlando Jamal told Radio Mozambique.
He confirmed two more soldiers were wounded in the attack, one of them seriously.
Other reports suggested six deaths, but officials weren't immediately available to confirm the casualties.
The attack occurred at the start of new talks between the two former civil war foes and amid Renamo's renewed militarisation.
Six previous rounds of talks have failed to yield a breakthrough on any of the major issues on the table, including Renamo's threat to boycott upcoming polls if the election law isn't amended.
Relations between the parties have been tense since the end of a 16-year civil war in 1992.
But Renamo lawmakers appeared to have been caught off guard by the news.
"I have no knowledge of this attack," the party's head negotiator, Saimone Macuiana, said Monday.
The attackers made off with an unspecified number of weapons from the military arsenal according to wounded soldiers interviewed by independent local television STV.
The attack bears a strong resemblance to raids carried out by Renamo rebels during Mozambique's civil war on government armouries.
The raid briefly shut down the crucial Sena railway line, which transports coal from mines in the northwest to Beira port.
"Yesterday all trains using the Sena line received instructions to interrupt their circulation at 07:30 and to restart at 14:00," Acucena Paul, spokesperson for Brazilian miner Vale, told AFP.
British-Australian Rio Tinto also uses the line to export coal from its operations in Tete province.
Labels: MOZAMBIQUE, RENAMO, RIO TINTO
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MDC-T fears over Mozambique border troop deployment
03/12/2012 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter
THE MDC-T said on Monday it was concerned that the reported deployment of troops to the border with Mozambique could be exploited by pro-Zanu PF generals to harass locals for political gain.
Zimbabwe is reportedly massing troops along the border with Mozambique to the east of the country in anticipation of a civil war in the country.
But Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC-T party claims army chiefs are “an extension of Zanu PF” and could use the deployment to go on a campaign of harassment against supporters of rival parties.
“The government must first educate the soldiers they are deploying in Manicaland on their actual mandate, so that they do not stray and harass people as we approach the elections set for next year,” the MDC-T said in a statement.
“Whilst its crucial for the government of Zimbabwe to deploy army personnel at our borders with Mozambique in case the Renamo bandits cause any instability,” the statement went on, “the desperate army bosses who are an extension of Zanu PF must not take any advantage of the situation and send partisan soldiers to campaign for Zanu PF and harass innocent civilians perceived to be MDC supporters.”
The Defence Ministry has so far not confirmed the troop deployment, first reported by The Daily News.
Correspondents in the region say there is no visible troop movement, and ministers privately believe there is a generally low risk of Mozambique slipping into conflict because of the diminished fighting capacity of Afonso Dhlakama’s Renamo rebel force.
On Monday, Mozambique's government said it held talks with restive ex-rebels over a list of grievances the former fighters say they have accumulated since signing a peace deal with Frelimo ruling party twenty years ago.
“The meeting was cordial although there was some emotion during the first phase when we talked about the composition of the security forces,” said Agriculture Minister Jose Pacheco.
The meeting came after Renamo returned to a former military base and threatened to return to war unless President Armando Guebuza’s Frelimo government agreed to negotiations.
Both parties were key actors in a brutal 16-year civil war that lead to the deaths of one million Mozambicans.
After two hours of preliminary talks, the government agreed to meet Renamo again in a week's time, but said the opposition party must be more specific about its grievances.
“We would like know what Renamo specifically wants, they need to go from general declarations to concrete examples,” Pacheco said.
“When we talk about exclusion they must tell us who is being excluded so we can include them.”
Renamo complains only members of the ruling party are receiving the country's new-found natural resource wealth.
Renamo also wants more of its demobilised fighters included in the security forces, and an overhaul of the electoral system to prevent fraud.
Renamo has put pressure on the government to respond to its demands. Once demobilised Renamo fighters have been undergoing training in the remote mountain camp since October.
After the talks the ex-rebels accused the government for not taking them seriously enough.
“The Frelimo government is always the same. They don’t appear to see the issues we raised as legitimate. This worries us, but we hope that in the coming days the government will respond positively,” said the head of Renamo's delegation and the party's Secretary General, Manuel Bissopo.
Labels: MDC, MDC PROPAGANDA, MOZAMBIQUE, RENAMO
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