Africa Monitor Intelligence

Mozambique: Pressure Leads Nyusi to Assert Military Effectiveness in Cabo Delgado

The weaknesses that the government forces (FDS) have been revealing in their actions to control the armed insurgency to the NE of the territory, Cabo Delgado, led PR FILIPE NYUSI (FN), to make "fundamental changes" in composition of the hierarchy hitherto employed, its mission (doctrine and methods) and changes in the chain of command of forces.
The timing coincidence between FN´s initiative and the embarrassment generated by Total pressure further indicates an attempt by the government to recover the image of the FADM, following the most recent military operational failures in Cabo Delgado (AM Flash 90) - with potential implications on the deadlines for completion of natural gas projects, vital to the country's economic and financial recovery - constant human rights violations, desertions and thefts committed by the FADM itself.
Information given as verified indicates that it was on the recommendation of ExxonMobil (a company also involved in the exploration of natural gas), that a Pentagon envoy, ANTHONY TATA, went in early JAN. to Maputo, with the mission of encouraging the authorities to redouble their efforts in fighting the rebellion, for which the US would be willing to help Mozambique. The USA considers the ongoing rebellion in the NE of the territory as an "extraction of ISIS".
The opposition to the preponderance of the PRM also grew among the military chiefs and the lobby of the Makonde ethnic group (predominant in Cabo Delgado and with a high influence on the current PR, himself Makonde), who fed the thesis of the "unconstitutionality" of the situation prevailing in Cabo Delgado, and that it would be up to the FADM to combat threats to the country's sovereignty, as is the case with the insurrection by armed groups of Islamic inspiration in the NE. READ MORE