Oct. 22 (GIN) – Mozambique, profiled as the next Norway enjoying a windfall from its recent finds in off-shore gas, may be headed for troubled waters instead.
A fragile peace has reigned over the southeast nation since a treaty in 1992 ended a 16 year long civil war. A pawn in the Cold War of the great powers, the coastal nation was heavily armed with U.S. and Russian weapons. Over a million people perished in the course of the war.
Still one of the poorest nations on earth, the détente between the Frelimo government and the opposition Renamo group blew up this month when government forces overran the jungle headquarters of Renamo leader Afonso Dhlakama, who escaped.
"Peace is over in this country ... The responsibility lies with the Frelimo government because they didn't want to listen to Renamo's grievances," Renamo spokesman Fernando Mazanga told Reuters.
Renamo demands more representation in the armed forces and changes to the electoral law.
It is also possible that Renamo hopes to win a larger seat at the table when contracts are re-negotiated with multinational companies. Initial contracts, say some experts, gave away the store, giving foreign companies 15-year tax exemptions and mining and exploration licenses which they were free to trade.
Currently, a small elite associated with the ruling party and with strong business interests, dominates the economy.
Adriano Nuvunga, head of the Center for Public Integrity in the capital city Maputo, fears his country may not get the share of wealth it deserves. "There isn't a way to find out whether the government has done good business," he says. His concerns were rejected by the National Petroleum Institute (NPI). "We have a very transparent system," said NPI chief Arsenio Mabote. "The environment in Mozambique is there for companies to invest without fearing that there is corruption.
"You can find documents and model contracts that we negotiate on our website. We have nothing to hide."
Municipal elections are scheduled for Nov. 20, and presidential and parliamentary elections are to be held on Oct. 15 the following year. w/pix of Renamo members
DINKAS TO CHOOSE NATIONAL IDENTITY IN CONTENTIOUS VOTE
Oct. 22 (GIN) – Members of the Dinka Ngok ethnic group are returning en masse to their homes in the oil-rich Abyei region, intent on a unilateral referendum on national identity that may have explosive consequences.
The exodus began after Sudanese leaders failed to schedule an internationally-backed referendum this month. It would have allowed all Abyei citizens to choose whether to be part of Sudan or South Sudan. Juba (South Sudan) says it supports a referendum, Khartoum is opposed and favors a negotiated political settlement.
Thousands are reported to be braving rivers of mud and bumpy truck rides while spending their savings to make the trip.
Two groups, the Misseriya, semi-nomadic people of Arab origin and the Ngok Dinka Abyei live in Abyei but the Misseriya are often out of the region, grazing cattle.
But according to South Sudan’s foreign minister Barnaba Marial Benjamin, there were few if any Messeriya in Abyei Dinka Ngok territory. “If there are any other residents, it could be some few Merreriyas, it could be some few Sudanese or few South Sudanese who could be there. But the territory is specifically for the Nile Ngok Dinka," Benjamin said.
His claim was angrily refuted by Misseriya’s paramount chief Mukhtar Babu Nimir who threatened to take action, including war, if a vote was taken without their participation.
"We will not accept it,” he said of the proposed plebiscite. “We want the government of Sudan to be clear with us," adding "if it fails, we will play our part in the liberation of our land in war and peace."
Currently, some 4,000 Ethiopian-led UN peacekeepers patrol Abyei.
Meanwhile, a media blackout on the Abyei referendum in South Sudan has been imposed by the information minister, Michael Makuei Lueth. State-run radio and TV cannot cover or publish any announcements and mobilization campaigns in support of the proposed referendum, he said, “because some people show up at the station to talk unnecessarily."
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