SADC, AU must clear the security threat in Mozambique (By Anaclet Rwegayura)

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (PANA) – Leaders of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) are due to virtually hold their 40th Ordinary Summit on 17 August with the state of insecurity in northern Mozambique likely to top the agenda.

The violent insurgency in Cabo Delgado province and making relief available to thousands of people already in dire need call for the urgent attention of the 16-nation regional grouping.

At the summit, Mozambique will take on an extra responsibility as Tanzanian President John Magufuli hands over the SADC chair to President Filipe Nyusi.

The security situation in northern Mozambique is deteriorating at an alarming rate. Attacks by violent extremists have claimed over 1,000 lives and displaced 250,000 people since October 2017, the South Africa-based Institute for Security Studies (ISS) reported this week, pointing out that infrastructure has been destroyed and citizens robbed of their livelihoods.

According to the report, the number of incidents has dramatically escalated this year, forcing scores to abandon their homes. Communities are caught between heavy-handed government responses and attacks by insurgents, for some of which the Islamic State has claimed responsibility.

Military action by the Mozambique government, including the continued use of mercenaries, has not stopped the attacks and has worsened the plight of civilians. 

“Left unchecked,” the ISS warned, “the insurgency is likely to grow and spill over into neighbouring countries. Human security in the region could further deteriorate as seen in other parts of Africa afflicted by violent extremism such as the Sahel, the Horn of Africa and the Lake Chad Basin.”

A Tanzanian daily, The Citizen, quoting a military source and local media, also reported this week that Islamist militants occupied a key port in gas-rich northern Mozambique following days of attacks claimed by an Islamic State-affiliated group.

The Moz24 Horas website reported that the port of Mocimboa da Praia was captured by the terrorists. Mozambique’s defence forces confirmed that “terrorists” had launched “sequenced attacks” on several villages surrounding the port over the past week in an attempt to occupy the town.  

With the accumulated experience of terrorist attacks in several parts of Africa, the SADC leaders and the African Union (AU) should not expect Mozambique to deal with this threat without their support.

International conventions and protocols against terrorism, to which Mozambique is a party, including the AU Convention on the Prevention and Combating of Terrorism, provide for assistance from the international community under the prevailing circumstances. 

The ISS recalls that various SADC instruments oblige the regional body to come to Mozambique’s aid. For instance, Article 6(1) of the SADC Mutual Defence Pact stipulates that an ‘An armed attack against a state party shall be considered a threat to regional peace and security and such an attack shall be met with immediate collective action.’ 

In addition, SADC’s 2015 regional counter-terrorism strategy, developed in line with the UN global counter-terrorism strategy, provides for assistance in preventing youth radicalisation, border security, humanitarian aid and tackling the root causes of terrorism.   

It is for this reason, regional observers insist that SADC should invoke Article 6(1) of the Pact and implement its 2015 counter-terrorism strategy to help combat the insurgency in northern Mozambique and prevent a spillover into the region. 

According to the ISS, the SADC summit of the Troika of the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security held in Harare, Zimbabwe, on 19 May 2020 put the Mozambican insurgency on the SADC agenda. But after hours of deliberations, the meeting did not reach concrete agreement on SADC’s role.

Therefore, the upcoming SADC summit is regarded a crucial opportunity to take decisive action to end the crisis in Mozambique. This body could, among other possible steps, assist Mozambique to develop a long-term strategy to address the root causes of the violence, including the confiscation of land for mining, unemployment, high illiteracy, underdevelopment and a lack of basic services to the population.

The AU is yet to fulfill its 2020 commitment to ‘Silencing the Guns: creating conditions for Africa’s development.’ The time is running out and thousands of African lives are falling under the burst of guns.

-0- PANA AR/MA 14Aug2020