This situational brief examines the peace support op-erations (PSOs) and conflict management strategies of Rwanda’s forces, SAMIM and the EUTM in Cabo Delgado, Mozambique. It is based on primary and secondary data, including interviews that were held with SAMIM, RDF, civil society members and academics in Maputo and Pemba between 23 and 31 October 2022.

The brief outlines some of the respective challenges and successes of these PSOs. It contends that the conflict management strategies employed represent a double-edged sword for the country. The more progress that is made through military interventions in stabilising the conflict, albeit in certain areas, and in allowing for the return of populations and implementation of quick impact projects, the less emphasis will be placed on the need to deal with the underlying drivers of this conflict since the objectives of ‘neutralising the enemy’ would seemingly be achieved. Peace acquired in this way is piecemeal, and the return of conflict is but a stone’s throw away from the day of exit of the deployed peace-enforcers. Moreover, the new equipment, training and funds provided to the security sector, without an equi-table emphasis on the legitimacy and accountability of the sector (despite the EUTM training, Security Sector Reform provided by Rwanda and training of police given by SAMIM under the support of the EU’s peacebuilding activities), will enable a largely predatory security appa-ratus to strengthen and reinforce itself. The corruption of, and violence meted out by, the security sector was an underlying cause of the conflict. This paper further-more asserts that this conflict requires a broader political solution that sees as its foundation the development of a new social contract between the state and all its citizens, and it requires much more engagement at community level to assess their peace and security needs and their inputs for reintegration and victim-centred justice and reconciliation.

Authors: Cheryl Hendricks, Amanda Lucey and Loide da, Gloria Sambo Macaringue
Pages: 16
Dimensions: A4
Date of publication: 2023