WHILE MUCH OF SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA IS IN TURMOIL, ONE COUNTRY HAS ACHIEVED PEACE AND A REASONABLE PROMISE OF PROSPERITY. IN MOZAMBIQUE, A COMBINATION OF INTERNATIONAL HELP AND INTERNAL PRESSURES HAVE BROUGHT TWO BITTERLY WARRING PARTIES TOGETHER IN WHAT APPEARS TO BE A WORKABLE DEMOCRACY .IF ANY WAR SEEMED SURE TO LEAD TO RUIN, IT WAS THE FEROCIOUSLY FOUGHT CONFLICT IN MOZAMBIQUE, WHICH LASTED CLOSE TO TWO DECADES. THE OPPOSING FORCES - THE GOVERNMENT "FRELIMO" AND THE REBEL "RENAMO" - REGARDED EACH OTHER AS LESS THAN HUMAN AND ACTED ACCORDINGLY.
TODAY, THEY EXCHANGE COMPLIMENTS IN PARLIAMENT. FOR OBSERVERS, IT IS ONE OF THE SURPRISE SUCCESS STORIES OF A CONTINENT NOT TOO FAMILIAR WITH THEM AND MAY POINT THE WAY TO SIMILAR RECONCILIATION ELSEWHERE.
CAMERON HUME, A MEMBER OFTHE U-S MISSION TO THE UNITED NATIONS, PARTICIPATED IN THE MEDIATION EFFORT AND HAS WRITTEN A DETAILED ACCOUNT OF IT. HE SAYS THE FORMER COMBATANTS ARE MAKING DEMOCRACY WORK.
IT IS NOT YET THE MOTHER (BEST) OF ALL PARLIAMENTS. BUT THE MAIN THING IS THEY DECIDED THEY WANTED TO DEAL WITH THEIR CONFLICTS PEACEFULLY. AND THEY ARE FINDING THEIR MOZAMBICAN WAY TO DO THAT, AND IT IS INCLUDING POLITICAL PARTIES, AN ACTIVE PARLIAMENT, COMMISSIONS IN THE PARLIAMENT. AND I THINK ALL SUMMED UP, THE PROGRESS HAS BEEN REMARKABLE.
THAT IS ALSO THE OPINION OF TANDEKA NKIWAME, A LECTURER AT ZIMBABWE UNIVERSITY WHO IS NOW AT THE JOHNS HOPKINS SCHOOL OF ADVANCED INTERNATIONAL STUDIES IN WASHINGTON:
IT SEEMS THAT THE LEADERSHIP OF FRELIMO, THE LEADERSHIP OF RENAMO HAVE MANAGED TO STRIKE A WORKING RELATIONSHIP. THERE IS DIALOGUE. THERE IS CERTAINLY NOT AGREEMENT ON ALL ISSUES, BUT THERE IS NOT THE TYPE OF DISSENSION THAT WOULD BRING THE COUNTRY IN REVERSE, BACK TO CIVIL WAR AT THAT LEVEL - CERTAINLY NOT.
AT ANOTHER LEVEL, SHE SAYS SOME DANGER REMAINS. PEACE HAS NOT BROUGHT TANGIBLE BENEFITS TO THE MAJORITY OF THE POPULATION. MONEY IS NOT AVAILABLE FOR HEALTH AND EDUCATION. SHE ESTIMATES SOME 80 THOUSAND CHILDREN DO NOT GO TO SCHOOL.
FOREIGN BUSINESSES ARE CONSIDERING INVESTMENTS IN MOZAMBIQUE THAT COULD TOTAL SIX BILLION DOLLARS. BUT TADEKA NKIWAME CAUTIONS THEY ARE WAITING TO SEE IF PEACE ENDURES.
SHE AND OTHERS THINK THERE IS A GOOD CHANCE OF THAT, CONSIDERING HOW PEACE WAS ACHIEVED -- A COLLABORATION OF MOZAMBICANS AND OUTSIDERS, INCLUDING THE ITALIAN COMMUNITY OF SANT'EGIDIO WITH ITS TIES TO THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN MOZAMBIQUE.
LEARNING FROM PAST MISHAPS IN ANGOLA AND SOMALIA, THE UNITED NATIONS MADE SURE THE TWO SIDES WERE AT LEAST PARTIALLY DEMOBILIZED BEFORE THE FIRST ELECTIONS WERE HELD IN 1994. THIS WAS HELPED BY THE FACT THAT OUTSIDE SUPPORT FOR THE COMBATANTS HAD DRIED UP.
THE UNITED NATIONS ALSO STATIONED SEVEN THOUSAND PEACE-KEEPERS AROUND THE COUNTRY AND PROVIDED RENAMO WITH 17 MILLION DOLLARS TO MAKE THE TRANSITION TO A POLITICAL PARTY.
CAMERON HUME SAYS NEGOTIATIONS WERE OFTEN DIFFICULT.
AS THE PARTIES KEPT CHANGING THEIR OWN PERSPECTIVE, A WAY WAS FOUND TO MODIFY SOME OF THE TERMS OF THE PEACE AGREEMENT. IT TOOK A LITTLE BIT LONGER TO IMPLEMENT. SOME OF THE OTHER CONCERNS HAD TO BE TAKEN CARE OF AS THE INSURGENTS TURNED INTO A POLITICAL PARTY. BUT THERE WAS SUPPORT AMONG THE MAJOR DONORS TO KEEP THAT FLEXIBILITY, TO KEEP IT MOVING FORWARD. AND THE PARTIES DID THEIR PART BECAUSE THERE WERE NOT REALLY ANY CEASE-FIRE VIOLATIONS. THEY HUNG IN THERE, TOO.
OUTSIDE MEDIATORS DESERVE MUCH CREDIT, SAYS TANDEKA NKIWAME, BUT INTERNAL FACTORS WERE CRUCIAL:
MOZAMBIQUE, STRANGELY ENOUGH, DOES HAVE AN OPERATIONAL CIVIL SOCIETY THAT HAS BEEN ABLE TO PUT PRESSURE ON DIFFERENT POLITICAL ACTORS. YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT ORGANIZED GROUPS AND THEN YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT THE GENERAL POPULACE IN TERMS OF HOW THEY INTERACT WITH THE VARIOUS POLITICAL ACTORS - THE FACT THAT THE PEASANTRY WERE HIT HARDEST BY THE WAR, AND THEY WERE FED UP. THEY MADE IT CLEAR THAT THEY WANTED AN END, THAT THEY WANTED TO REACH SOME LEVEL OF NORMALCY. AND THERE WAS A RESPONSE TO THAT.
MS. NKIWAME CONTRASTS THE SITUATION IN MOZAMBIQUE WITH ANGOLA AND SOUTH AFRICA, WHERE SHE THINKS ULTIMATE RECONCILIATION WILL BE HARDER TO REACH BECAUSE OF DEEPER DIVISIONS AND GREATER TENSIONS. BUT MOZAMBIQUE, SHE SAYS, SETS A WELCOME PRECEDENT.
04-Apr-97
Source: Voice of America