Rwanda is in Mozambique for a noble cause

On July 9, Rwanda, at the request of Mozambique, started deploying a 1,000-person contingent of its military and Police to Mozambique’s northernmost Province, Cabo Delgado, which was seriously affected by terrorism and insecurity.

Despite unrelenting and diversionary speculation from sections of Western media keen on spreading stories that Rwanda’s deployment was linked to French interests, Kigali’s motivation is noble, and clear.

Rwanda’s deployment, Amb. Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC), pointed out, was “a strong and concrete act of African solidarity to support a fellow member state fight terrorism and insecurity.” And it was grounded in the country’s commitment to the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) doctrine and the 2015 Kigali Principles on the Protection of Civilians.

Rwandan troops were sent to work closely with the Mozambique Armed Defence Forces (FADM) – and forces from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in designated sectors of responsibility – to support efforts to restore Mozambican state authority by conducting combat and security operations, as well as stabilisation and security-sector reform. The SADC mission in Mozambique was due to end on October 15, but presidents Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa, Filipe Nyusi of Mozambique, Mokgweetsi Masisi of Botswana and Hage Geingob of Namibia met in Pretoria on October 5, assessed progress and decided to extend its deployment beyond the initial three months. They did not put a new time limit on the mission.

Rwanda’s deployment, which took many outsiders by surprise, was based on the good bilateral relations between the two countries following the signing of related agreements in 2018.

The insurgency which was concentrated in Cabo Delgado, often referred to as the forgotten Cabo, the place where the Frente de Liberação Moçambique – Mozambique Liberation Front – (FRELIMO) mounted its struggle against Portuguese colonialism in the 1960s, claimed thousands of lives since 2017.

Beginning in October 2017, armed extremists linked to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) launched an insurgency in Cabo Delgado. The militants launched attacks, and in August 2020 seized the port town of Mocimboa da Praia. In March 2021, they seized Palma, murdering dozens of civilians displacing more than 35,000 of the coastal town's 75,000 residents.

Rwanda acted as a friend indeed. Two months after Rwandan troops landed, jointly with their Mozambican counterparts, they did not only frustrate the armed extremists’ plan to advance and capture the entire Province.

They also pushed the insurgents back, recaptured territory after territory, killed insurgents and rescued women and children who were forcefully taken as slaves.

Most recently, Rwandan and Mozambican forces made good progress dislodging insurgents in key areas of the Province, which led to increased security in the region. People previously displaced by the insurgents have started returning to their homes, especially in Palma and some other areas. Despite the obvious challenges, there is hope. Rwanda's deployment is part of the principle of solidarity for a noble and common cause.

It is about saving human lives. Rwandan troops have prevented the decapitation of people in Cabo Delgado, and the destruction of property and infrastructure. Also important, the Rwandans actually cut the potential for the conflict to expand into neighboring provinces, and even across borders, with disastrous consequences.

Left unsorted, the situation in Cabo Delgado could have easily taken root and expanded to neighbouring countries. On September 25, while hosting his Rwandan counterpart, President Filipe Nyusi observed that since the beginning of July, Rwandan troops, “have been in the forests of Cabo Delgado, leaving no stone unturned.”

President Nyusi thanked President Paul Kagame for understanding his country’s predicament and quickly helping push back the terrorists. “It is a gesture inherent to the African and universal values that when the neighbours house is on fire, we must rush to extinguish the fire before it spreads,” Nyusi said.

According to Kagame, the spirit of solidarity and cooperation lives on, as African countries, including Rwanda, join with Mozambique, to fight a new threat to the security and stability of Cabo Delgado. Kagame said: “Nothing should stop us from ensuring the stability, progress, and well-being of the people of Africa.”

In their designated sectors of responsibility; in the districts of Palma, Mocimboa da Praia, Mocamia, Mueda and Muidumbe, the Rwanda-Mozambique military offensive was successful and the insurgents’ capabilities were much reduced.

The joint forces on August 8 recaptured the port of Mocimboa da Praia — a hub the insurgents had turned into their headquarters – and moved on to secure the entire district as well as other key strongholds of the insurgents. Losing it weakened them considerably.

The fall of Mocimboa da Praia was a game changer because it was an insurgent stronghold, and a port town where supplies passed. It helped the insurgents war effort through illicit trade networks. But Rwanda will not recall its troops prematurely. They will stay as long as Mozambique deems necessary.

During and after its support efforts to restore Mozambican state authority, Rwandan forces will help secure and rebuild areas of northern Mozambique destroyed by the Islamist insurgency. “The mission of Rwandan troops in Mozambique continues,” Kagame said.

“The new action should be to guarantee security in the liberated areas until the reconstruction is finished.” In the spirit of African solidarity and South-South cooperation, the government Rwanda will continue to collaborate with the government of Mozambique and other partners in the next phases of stabilisation and development.

Those questioning what Rwanda stands to gain from the Mozambique deployment also deliberately miss the big picture, and the fact that “terrorism is real and it is a global scourge that must be fought wherever it is,” as noted by Nyusi. Should Rwanda gain from Cabo Delgado’s peace dividend, why would anyone complain?