Hosia Mviringi
The Southern African Development Community has toasted to the success of its intervention mission in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado.
SADC had to pursue a military intervention, after non-state actors had overrun the oil rich northern region.
In a Communique after its Extraordinary Summit in Lilongwe Malawi last week, SADC expressed satisfaction at the results of its military intervention which saw the region extinguish a highly dangerous terrorist incursion in the Cabo Delgado region of Mozambique.
“Summit considered the report of the Organ Troika plus Personnel Contributing Countries (PCC’s) and the Republic of Mozambique held on January 11, 2022, and commended the SADC Mission In Mozambique (SAMIM) leadership and the troops for conducting successful operations and for the achievements recorded since the deployment of the Mission in July 2021,” said the statement.
The Summit chaired by Dr Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera, in his capacity as SADC Chairperson, commended the SADC Member States that contributed personnel (troops) and financial support towards the success of the mission.
This, said the block, was testimony to their unwavering commitment towards peace, security and stability in the country.
“Summit commended SADC Region for its an unwavering commitment to peace and security, and for using its resources in addressing and combating terrorism in Cabo Delgado, which is a unique precedent on the African continent,” the statement further stated.
Having accomplished its mandate in Mozambique, the SADC Mission in Mozambique is emboldened and encouraged to do more and to go the extra mile to provide peace monitoring and evaluation service to ensure that the gains of its interventions are not reversed.
This will see a prolonged presence of the SAMIM until the regional block is satisfied that the Mozambican government can sustain the peace achieved so far.
“Summit noted the good progress made since the deployment of the SADC Mission in Mozambique and extended its mandate with associated budgetary implications, and that it will continue to monitor the situation going forward,” the statement said.
A peaceful Mozambique is important to the SADC region, as regional economies are anchored on interlinked intra-regional trade facilitation mechanisms whose disruption has far reaching repercussions to member states.
Following the successful quelling of the violent insurgency, the Mozambican Government has initiated the Cabo Delgado Reconstruction Plan to enable the delivery of social services and amenities to a region that had been cut -off from the rest of the country by a foreign-sponsored rebel movement.
There will be an International Conference to support the reconstruction of the Cabo Delgado Province.
Zimbabwe sent troops to Mozambique, to train their regional peers on how to respond to insurgencies.
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