Africa-Press – Mozambique. Researcher João Feijó, from the Mozambican non-governmental organisation Observatório do Mundo Rural (OMR), on Tuesday, advocated talks with the rebels who have been carrying out incursions in the north of the country, particularly in the province of Cabo Delgado, since October 2017.
Feijó, who was speaking at a video conference organised by the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) on “Cabo Delgado’s resource curse: beyond natural gas”, acknowledged that talking about talks in Mozambique remains taboo.
“There will be no development with this insecurity. We have to end this war and start talks with the rebels. We have to know the leaders and talk to them,” he said.
Cabo Delgado province is rich in natural gas but has been terrorised since 2017 by armed rebels, with some attacks claimed by the extremist group Islamic State.
Aware that problems in Cabo Delgado did not start with the rebel attacks, João Feijó said that the insurgent activity coincided with the state’s control of exploiting natural resources.
This cause-effect relationship was fuelled by the continued lack of development policies for the population of that province, with the consequent failure to respond to local expectations that foreign investment would translate into an increase in the quality of life for the locals.
Borges Nhamirre, a consultant from ISS, who also took part in the videoconference, said that now that the end of the rainy season is approaching, an increase in insurgent activity is to be expected, not only in Cabo Delgado but also in other provinces, as has happened before with the spread of incursions into Niassa.
This is why the presence of foreign soldiers in Mozambique “is set to continue”.
Journalist and social activist Fátima Mimbire said at the event that the security efforts underway in northern Mozambique “should put the local populations first”.
“Companies interested in investing in Cabo Delgado should support efforts to assist internally displaced people and ensure the safe return of communities,” she said.
Mimbire also said it was essential to “focus on development and investment” in Cabo Delgado and end the central state’s neglect of the region.
“Finally, we need a national dialogue to discuss insecurity, find common solutions, and mobilise people to work together to end the war. I am so afraid that the latter will be difficult because it seems that someone is profiting from it,” she stressed.
There are about 750,000 internally displaced people due to the conflict, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and about 4,000 deaths, according to the ACLED conflict registration project.
Since July 2021, an offensive by government troops with Rwandan support, later joined by the Southern African Development Community (SADC), has allowed areas where there was a rebel presence to recover. Still, the rebels’ flight has provoked new attacks in other districts used as transit or temporary refuge.
