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Paramilitary Groups: General Peace Agreement for Mozambique

Implementations

Paramilitary Groups – 1992

The General Peace Agreement (GPA) provided means for RENAMO to change itself into a legitimate political party.¹

Following the regulations on political parties enshrined in the GPA and upon its signing, the main military group RENAMO was due to be dismantled and transformed into a political party. Initially, the process of de-mobilization and transformation was slowed down due to lack of qualified cadres for the RENAMO party; and so, the newly created RENAMO party had to recruit new supporters.

There were no “splinter groups” that refused to demobilize. RENAMO remained a unified organization. Leadership apparently chose to retain a small number of men under arms in Maringue at its main base, as a kind of insurance. They were never formally demobilized, and in 1997-98 the PIR moved in to establish government control in the area, though the presence of these armed men had not caused any problems other than suggesting that the state was not in full control of this area.

Carrie Manning, The Politics of Peace in Mozambique: Post-Conflict Democratization, 1992-2000 (Westport: Praeger Publishers, 2002).

Paramilitary Groups – 1993

As of 1993, the demobilization of RENAMO and the state’s armed force was still going on. There were no splinter groups or paramilitary organizations.

Paramilitary Groups – 1994

There were no reports of paramilitary organizations. “A total of 91,691 (67,042 government and 24,649 RENAMO) soldiers had been registered by ONUMOZ. Some 78,078 soldiers (57,540 government and 20,538 RENAMO) were demobilized, while some of the remainder joined the new army” (ONUMOZ, S/1994/1449).²

“Final Report of the Secretary General on the United Nations Operation in Mozambique (ONUMOZ),” U.N. Security Council (S/1994/1449), December 23, 1994.