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Cease Fire – 1992

The General Peace Agreement for Mozambique had a provision for UN peacekeeping. As soon as the peace agreement was signed and before the establishment of the United Nations Operation in Mozambique (ONUMOZ), the interim Special Representative and a team of 21 military observers drawn from existing United Nations peacekeeping missions arrived in Mozambique on 15 October 1992.¹

Before the arrival of the UN military observers, Radio Mozambique in the capital of Maputo reported that “the Mozambique Armed Forces (FAM) and elements of the Mozambique National Resistance (MNR) had clashed for the first time since the signing of the peace agreement when MNR forces attacked a FAM position at Charre, about 10 km from Mutarara in Tete Province, on 14th October”.²

A first group of 10 UN cease-fire observers from the USA, France, and Russia arrived in the capital. A document cited by ‘Noticias’ stated that the Supervision and Control Commission (CSC), which was established in November 1992 as per the General Peace Agreement, regarded the retaking of Lugela by government forces as a clear violation of the cease-fire accord. The document, which was issued by the CSC on December 2, urged the Mozambican government to honor the accord and adhere to the structures that had been created to uphold the peace process.³

There were no further violations of the cease-fire agreement.

1. “Mozambique: United Nations Operation in Mozambique (ONUMOZ),” UN ONUMOZ, accessed September 2, 2010, http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/missions/past/onumoz.htm.
2. “Mozambique Government and Rebel Forces Clash in Tete; UN Observers Arrive,” BBC Summary of World Broadcasts/The Monitoring Report, October 16, 1992.
3. “Mozambique Commission Says Recapture of Lugela Was Violation of Peace Accord,” BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, December 10, 1992.