Peace day
+ 2 anniversaries, not just 1
Venâncio Mondlane
+ Confirmed no live coverage of treason trial
+ Claim 60 members of Mondlane party killed
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2 Anniversaries
Peace day speeches show history forgotten and lessons not learned
The day of Peace and Reconciliation (4 October) marked the anniversary of the signing of a peace accord in Rome by the Mozambique government and Renamo rebels in 1992, that ended a brutal decade-long war. After years of Frelimo saying “we do not talk to terrorists”, it did just that in Rome. And the settlement involved Renamo becoming the official opposition, with some guerrilla fighters becoming members of parliament.
But 5 October is the anniversary of the war in Cabo Delgado. In 2017 insurgents specifically chose the peace and reconciliation day holiday to launch a new war in Mocimboa da Praia, and that war continues today, nine years later – because Frelimo refuses, again, to talk to “terrorists”. Frelimo 10 days ago celebrated the success of talking to “terrorists”, but refuses to do it again.
These are both “civil wars” because most fighters on both sides have been Mozambican. But every civil war is different. The 1981-92 war was a proxy war waged against Frelimo by the US and South Africa. The apartheid state provided air support and even sent trainers to Inhambane by submarine. In the new Cabo Delgado war there is some support from Islamic State, but at a much lower level than in the 1981-92 war. And one piece of history that is conveniently forgotten is that Frelimo was not overwhelmingly popular in either war.
Early in the proxy war Renamo moved south from its initial bases in Sofala through rural Inhambane into Gaza. Even Frelimo leaders were shocked at the speed of the guerrilla move south and admitted the peasants were not supporting Frelimo. Later in the war there was a similar rapid move of guerrillas from Malawi across Zambézia and Nampula; again because Frelimo agriculture policies did not help peasant farmers, they accepted Renamo guerrillas and allowed them to pass.
In the first multi-party elections in 1994, Joaquim Chissano was elected president with 53% of the vote. For the 250 seat parliament, Frelimo won a tiny majority, 129 seats (against 112 for Renamo and 9 for an independent small party, UD). Of 11 provinces, Frelimo won a majority of seats in only 6.
Five years later in the 1999 presidential elections, during the tabulation it became clear that Renamo head Afonso Dhlakama might win, so elections authorities sent technicians out to change the results and give Chissano a narrow victory. All elections since them have seen some manipulation.
Now in the Cabo Delgado war, the problems are the same. Peasants are being pushed off their land by gas and mining companies. Resources bring wealth to a few but increase poverty for most people. Disaffected young people have joined the insurgents. And insurgents now have free movement throughout most of Cabo Delgado. Even where rural people do not actively support the insurgents, they are still seen as local people and not Frelimo, and thus can pass.
The choice of peace and reconciliation day to start the Cabo Delgado war was in part that young people wanted talks with Frelimo and government. Increasingly the international community pushed for talks. In October 2021, the World Bank, European Union (EU), African Development Bank (ADB), and UNDP proposed a $2.5bn development package for the north. But the condition was the government accept that there are local grievances: extreme poverty, corruption, marginalization, and gains from gas and rubies. Then President Filipe Nyusi would not even discuss the proposal if it included that acknowledgement of grievances.
Think tanks like the Institute for Institute for Security Studies have been pushing for talks and identifying grievances (See this newsletter 671, 27 July). A new report calls on government to “address drivers of conflict and underlying grievances” such as “inequalities, including regional marginalization, inequitable resource distribution, high unemployment, and weak service delivery, [which] continue to fuel grievances that increase the risk of mass atrocities.” (Critical Present, Precarious Future Preventing mass atrocities in Mozambique, September 2026, Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide, 17 Sept 2026.)
But for another year, Peace and Reconciliation Day has passed with empty speeches. Frelimo refuses to see its own history, but the peace and security studies researchers argue that this blindness does not bode well.
Venâncio Mondlane
Confirmed no live coverage of treason trial
The Supreme Court has rejected Venâncio Mondlane’s appeal against its decision not to allow live TV and social media broadcasting of his 17 November treason trial. The small courtroom will be open to press and pubic, but they will not be allowed to record sound or pictures. Thus press coverage will be dependent on journalists’ notes.
The Court said its initial ruling was not subject to appeal. But AIM (14 October) notes that “the Supreme Court had also argued that a live broadcast could lead the public to form premature conclusions regarding guilt or innocence before a final verdict is reached”. In other words, the Supreme Court does not want the general public to have access to the evidence for fear that they may reach a different judgement than the Court.
Correction: In the previous newsletter (673) we incorrectly said the trial would be by the Constitution Council. It is the Supreme Court which is the highest criminal court and the earlier newsletter (672) is correct. Mondlane must be tried there because he is a member of the Council of State, as the person who came second in the presidential elections. Under the constitution, the Supreme Court is politicised. President and Vice President of the Court are named by the President of Mozambique. The 11 other judges of the Supreme Court are named by parliament, and thus by the parties in proportion to their number of seats. Five judges have been selected to try Mondlane; three of them are Frelimo-linked.
Another leader of Mondlane’s party killed
Araújo Tendence, a senior member of Anamola in Mopeia, Zambézia, was shot dead Friday (9 Oct) evening at his home. Anamola (National Alliance for a Free and Autonomous Mozambique) is the political party led by Mondlane, and founded in August 2025. Since then, Mondlane says that almost 60 members have been killed, with no investigations of the murders. Anamola has also reported that Cândido António, a party official in KaTembe municipal district, Maputo, was “kidnapped and brutally tortured”. (CDD 12 Oct, AIM 13 Oct)
Recently, the Maputo City Judicial Court decided to unfreeze Mondlane’s bank accounts, which had been frozen in November 2024, during mass demonstrations he called to protest against fraud in the general elections.
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