Mozambique 19 August: Talk of peace and talk of war
Good afternoon. The international mediators on Mozambique’s peace talks are today meeting separately with each of the two sides – the government and opposition Renamo – following the false dawn of an apparent agreement on Wednesday that was promptly disowned by the government.
SEE: Mozambique government says opposition rule “out of the question” – for now
The following morning came a reminder of the human cost of the conflict, as the Human Rights League, led by Alice Mabota, published its report based on a visit to the refugee camps in Malawi and the conflict zones in Tete and Zambezia provinces.
SEE: Mozambique human rights league condemns government over refugee crisis
The Human Rights League’s report shows up the failure of the government’s National Human Rights Commission, led by Custodio Duma, to produce any kind of a report since it promised to visit the same places in April this year. As far as we know, a visit did take place – but the findings have not been made public.
It may have been Mabota’s condemnation of the government’s role in human rights abuses that led the Ministry of Defence to make an exceptional statement about Renamo aggression, late on Thursday afternoon. The statement itself contained little that was new, but the fact of it coming from the defence ministry rather than the interior ministry, as has always been the case up to now, may indicate that the government has accepted that this is a war rather than a little local disturbance.
One thing that did come out of Wednesday’s peace talks agreement was the creation of a sub-committee to put together a package of legislative reforms that could eventually lead to greater devolution of power to local authorities. Zitamar News has the details on who sits on that committee.
SEE: Mozambique negotiators start work on legislative reform package
Meanwhile, in parliament, an inquiry commission has started its work looking into the ProIndicus, EMATUM, and MAM debt scandals. It will hear from key figures in the deals before reporting in November – but it still falls short of the international audit demanded by the IMF and donors.
SEE: Mozambique hidden debts investigation to report in November
Outside Maputo, 200 families are facing resettlement to make way for improvements to the system providing water to the Greater Maputo Area – a World Bank-financed project that has apparently survived the donor freeze.
SEE: Maputo water supply project to displace 200 households
Have a great weekend.