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Reflecting on the Cabo Delgado military insurgence and mind-boggling mineral curse

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Reflecting on the Cabo Delgado military insurgence and mind-boggling mineral curse

Reflecting on the Cabo Delgado military insurgence and mind-boggling mineral curse

30th March 2021

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The oil-rich Mozambican coastal province of Cabo Delgado is currently going through intensive civil unrest which could potentially render the entire country deeply into failed state territory. This can only happen if the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant’s (ISIL) main affiliated Ansar al-Sunna insurgent group’s military offensive is not contained on time. Since October 2017, the Ansar al-Sunna has been waging attacks on civilians and Mozambican government forces with widely reported cases of beheadings and kidnappings of women and children. So far the military confrontations between Ansar al-Sunna and government armed forces have claimed the lives of more than 1 500 civilians and further displaced more than 300 000. The recent hostage situation involving foreign nationals, including South Africans, at the Amarula Palma hotel, which left several dead and more than hundred people trapped, leaves much to be desired.

The armed confrontations between warring sides bear all the hallmarks of a fully-fledged armed conflict due to the level of intensive violence that is unleashed against each other and leading to the locals at the receiving end. Should this armed conflict spiral out of control, it will have long lasting devastating consequences in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region similar to those in Iraq, Syria, Libya, Nigeria, Cameroon, Mali and Somalia.

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At the centre of the armed conflict in Cabo Delgado are massive oil and gas deposits which were discovered in 2010. One would think that this discovery came as a relief to this poverty-stricken province, but it turned out to be a curse which the civilians wish had never come.

The Cabo Delgado province is no stranger to civil war. In 1964, a vicious liberation war ensued between the erstwhile Portuguese colonial rule and the Frelimo liberation fighters. Soon after the attainment of independence in 1975, the majority of the Portuguese left the country. Now, the post-colonial era has more recently been tainted by the civil unrest which erupted at the behest of the ISIL-affiliated Ansar al-Sunna insurgent group.

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One might why ISIL is getting itself involved in the affairs of Mozambique and further foments for a caliphate kind of territorial self-determination in the country? Judging by events in other parts of the world, it seems very clear that the quest for a caliphate seems to flourish where there are huge oil and gas deposits and this has cemented a view that, indeed, oil is a war cursed natural resource. While others may view the conflict as a religious one, I certainly do not believe it is the case, because the neighbouring country to the province of Cabo Delgado, Tanzania, has Muslims, Christians, and other African traditional spirituality groups living side by side without any form of violence or conflict between them for ages. Yet despite its massive oil and gas deposits, Tanzania is a relatively peaceful country and one of the stable countries on the continent.

The developments in Mozambique are reason for South Africa and the entire SADC regional block to be very worried. Any insurgent group, including Ansar al-Sunna, that intends to wage an armed conflict with the Mozambican armed forces has to have access to weapons. No country in Africa, except for South Africa, Nigeria, Egypt, and a handful of other countries manufactures weapons of war. In light of this, one wonders how a small insurgent group such as Ansar al-Sunna have access to high calibre weapons that we see them brandishing? Where do they get military training and technology that makes it difficult for the central government in Maputo to trace and subdue them? In light of this, it is clear that the Ansar al-Sunna is not just an ordinary insurgent group but probably an extremist group composed of highly trained military combatants, experienced military veterans, mercenaries, and soldiers of fortune that are in Mozambique to destabilise the country and the entire regional block.

Sadly, at the centre of tension in Cabo Delgado province is a belief and strong evidence that the proceeds of oil and gas money from these multinational energy companies are not developing the communities in the areas of health care, education, infrastructure development, and other socio-economic imperatives. On the contrary, these proceeds are now spent on military defence, thereby leading the government of Mozambique to fail to use the tax revenues and levies from the mine and mineral sector for development. Logically, the government will use its revenue to acquire weapons to try and subdue insurgents in the Cabo Delgado province. In the end, local people continue to lose lives while their government remains paralyzed.

The recent military development and hostage situation in Amarula Palma Hotel which resulted in the killing of almost 20 people is a typical example of SADC’s absence of leadership and commitment to resolve and call for peace and security.

Written by Konanani Happy Raligilia, a Senior Lecturer attached with the Department of Jurisprudence at the University of South Africa. He writes in his personal capacity.

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