ISS fomenting conflict, diverting attention from Mozambique security challenges

As I watched a video - on social media - of a convoy of buses and military trucks moving Rwandan troops and their military hardware to the troubled Cabo Delgado Province of Mozambique, I saw local people lined up on the roadside, looking on with excitement as the convoy passed by.

I imagined the relief they felt and the assurance that the terrorists would no longer ravage their villages to kill and loot. Since 2017 they have known no peace and hundreds have been killed while thousands were displaced.   

After watching the video, I read a story written by a consultant of the Institute of Security Studies (ISS), Borges Nhamirre, titled, “Mozambicans divided over Rwandan Deployment,” and a subtitle suggesting that, “the arrival of Rwandan soldiers in Cabo Delgado has drawn harsh criticism from opposition parties and rights organisations.”

The article followed another publication in a South African newspaper, the Daily Maverick, under the title, “Rwanda’s deployment of forces into Mozambique irks SADC '', also written by another ISS consultant, Peter Fabricius.

The two articles penned by consultants of the otherwise prestigious continental Institute of Security Studies are a big disappointment. They do not address the real issues of terror threats affecting the people in Cabo Delgado but simply focus on the politicking surrounding the deployment of Rwandan troops who were sent there to end the terror attacks and bring peace and stability. 

The ISS consultants do not focus on research that can help to know the root causes of the instability in Cabo Delgado and how the continent can cooperate to help Mozambique’s quest for a peaceful and united country.

By writing his article on what opposition parties and rights organizations in Mozambique say about Rwandan soldiers’ deployment, Nhamirre definitely knew the answer even before going to ask. It is a common tendency for opposition political parties and rights organizations, especially in Africa, to criticize the government even when so much good has been done or achieved.

Their main preoccupation is to make the government fail or be seen to be failing for them to earn credit and claim they can do better, even when they can do or achieve nothing. Security consultants worth the name are not news reporters or news makers on less important questions when lives of thousands of people are at risk.

If ISS wants to remain credible, it should refrain from these kinds of shallow politicized reports that undermine security initiatives on the continent. As much as the Rwandan troops' presence gives assurance of saving lives of the people in Cabo Delgado, what has the resenting opposition parties and rights groups done? Yes, it’s their right to comment, the writer may argue, but is their opinion in any way contributing to solving the problem at hand? 

If Nhamirre was concerned with the security of the people in Mozambique, he would ask whether the opposition and right groups offer a better security plan to save the people of Cabo Delgado. Rwandan troops are in Mozambique to help fellow Africans fight terrorism. Otherwise, they have much more to do at home supporting their families and building their nation. Their presence in Mozambique is a duty of sacrifice.

The interviews conducted by Fabricius with members of the Rwanda National Congress (RNC), which is identified by the UN and the Rwandan government as a terrorist group, show how the ISS is missing the point on security in Mozambique and instead dealing in cheap politicking aimed at derailing the big picture effort to peace.

Rwanda not being a SADC member or its having enemies (RNC) living in South Africa are immaterial issues as far as restoring peace in Mozambique is concerned. The ISS publications are intended to foment conflict between the Rwandan troops and the local population in Mozambique as well as creating a rift between Rwanda and SADC countries.

Rwandan troops are not an invading force as they are in Mozambique legally under the invitation of President Filipe Nyusi. Rwandan troops will work hand in hand with Mozambican security forces and SADC troops, when the latter show up as envisaged, to end terrorism in a fellow African country.

The ISS can do better by focusing on Mozambique security challenges and refrain from politicizing the Rwandan troops' deployment in Mozambique.