Hosia Mviringi
The barbaric violence and wanton killing of civilians in the Cabo Delgado region of Mozambique by foreign-sponsored terrorists has outraged the African Union (AU), prompting the AU Chairperson to issue a strong statement of condemnation.
“The Chairperson of the African Union Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat condemns in the strongest terms terrorist attacks in Cabo Delgado region and particularly the recent violence in and around the environs of Palma Town,” read the statement.
The statement comes hot on the heels of another statement of condemnation by the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security yesterday in Harare, which pledged SADC’s commitment to respond to this security threat in a manner that will ensure the integrity of a fellow member state and neighbour.
Africa has converged to build timely consensus on the necessary steps to be taken to address the terrorist threat to the Southern Africa region.
The resolution clears the way for an African intervention in the crisis so that lives are preserved and livelihoods restored in a peaceful and secure environment.
“The Chairperson further expresses his utmost concern at the presence of international terrorist groups operating in Southern Africa, and calls for urgent and coordinated regional and international action to address this new threat to our common security,” the statement added.
After a long wait, the AU has recognised that the Mozambican terrorist threat is more than just a national threat, but a regional and continental threat that, if left unchecked, poses a realistic threat of spreading to neighbouring countries with dire humanitarian, political, and economic consequences.
It is all very clear that a foreign state actor is sponsoring the insurgency in Mozambique with an explicit intention to establish a foothold in the oil and gas-rich provinces of Mozambique.
However, with the recent push by the Zimbabwean government to expedite exploration and exploitation of oil and gas resources in the Muzarabani escarpment, these stabilisation activities could spell doom for the regional economic advancement if allowed to flourish.
Recent interest by such countries as the United States and Portugal to send troops to Mozambique is a bad signal for SADC and Africa at large.
History shows that the US never withdraws it’s troops once a deployment has been done. Who can rule out the possibility for these becoming training ambassadors for future terrorist groups?
It will be remembered that the US has tried and failed for a long time to establish a strong base in Southern Africa in the mould of Africom in Djibouti, from which their expansionist activities could be launched and coordinated.
It may not come as a surprise to find that these same powerful nations, just as they have done elsewhere in the Middle East, have a way of justifying intervention in internal matters of sovereign States, and one such way is the creation of insurgency and funding of unending civil wars.
Cowardly imperial forces don’t care about innocent lives that are lost in the process, but that their main goal is the exploitation of natural resources, at any cost.
They thrive in chaos. They loot precious resources under the cover of violence and confusion.
It is therefore within Africa’s power and interest to resist such machinations and quickly identify the owner of the barking puppies.
The latest commitment for support by the AU gives impetus for an urgent SADC intervention to quell the insurgency. It is a positive signal that indeed Africa has come of age to a point where definitive decisions are made timeously.
“The African Union Commission through it’s relevant organs, stands ready to support the Region and it’s mechanisms to jointly address the urgent threat to regional and continental peace and security,” concluded the AU Chairperson in a statement.
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