Mozambique Signs Peace Deal

The Mozambican government and former rebel movement Renamo have signed a series of three documents intended to bring military hostilities to an end.

                                                Government and Renamo Sign Agreements

The delegations of the Mozambican government and of the former rebel movement Renamo on Monday, at the 70th round of the government-Renamo dialogue, finally signed a series of three documents intended to bring military hostilities to an end.

The documents are a memorandum of understanding, a set of guarantees for the implementation of the consensus achieved during the dialogue, and the terms of reference for the international observers who are to monitor the cessation of hostilities.

The heads of the two delegations, Agriculture Minister Jose Pacheco for the government and Saimone Macuiana for Renamo, signed the documents. But they have not yet been made public: so far the exact details of the agreement are not known.

Speaking immediately after the signing ceremony, Pacheco declared that President Armando Guebuza will be available on Tuesday to meet with Renamo leader Afonso Dhlakama, and the two could then confirm and approve the documents.

But it seems most unlikely that Dhlakama, who is still living in a Renamo base in the central district of Gorongosa, will come to Maputo any time soon.
Macuiana seemed to rule that out. He said that Dhlakama would not appear at a formal signing, but had entrusted this task to the Renamo delegation to the dialogue.

Macuiana described the signing of the documents by the two delegations as a major step towards the end of hostilities. “It's not the end of our work, but it's an important step towards achieving peace, stability and the well-being of our people”, he said,
In fact, there has been a de facto ceasefire since the end of June in Sofala province, the scene of most of the

Renamo attacks since it resumed its insurgency in June 2013. For more than a month there have been no ambushes against vehicles travelling along the main north-south highway between the Save river and the small Sofala town of Muxungue. This 100 kilometre stretch of road used to be highly dangerous, and at one point the convoys, despite their military escort, were coming under Renamo attack almost every day.

The other flashpoint was Gorongosa district, and here too no clashes have been reported for more than a month.

However, the latest issue of the independent weekly “Savana” does warn of apparent infiltration of Renamo gunmen from Sofala into the southern province of Inhambane. The paper says a Renamo unit crossed the

Save river on 17 July, and set up positions in the Zinave and Tanguane regions in Mabote district. There was an exchange of fire, in which both sides took casualties.

Subsequently, Renamo men have moved into the neighbouring district of Funhalouro. The police are unwilling to speak about the matter, and one police source told the paper “there's a government order forbidding us to talk about this”.

Local residents, fearful of the Renamo presence, have fled from their homes. One man, named as Bento

Cove, told “Savana”, “they're here in the district. In the Vondo area, people are running away”.
“They haven't begun to do any harm, but we're afraid of them”, he said, adding that wherever they go the gunmen ask for food and money.

This is the second Renamo incursion into Funhalouro. In January, Renamo attacked the Funhalouro locality of Mavume, where they looted goods, attacked a police station and murdered a policeman.

This time a community leader in Mavume, named only as Phava, told “Savana” that the gunmen repeatedly say they mean no harm to the local population. “They say they're waiting for new orders from their leader”, he added.