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Territorial Powersharing: General Peace Agreement for Mozambique

Implementations

Territorial Powersharing – 1992

As stipulated in the General Peace Agreement, RENAMO (or its armed wing, the Mozambique National Resistance (MNR)) continued to hold control of territory. RENAMO controlled approximately twenty-five percent of Mozambican territory, scattered all over the country, at the end of the war in 1992 and about six percent of the population. The largest concentrations of RENAMO-controlled territory were in the central part of the country, specifically in Manica, Sofala, and Zambézia provinces.¹ However, territorial administration by RENAMO was meant to be temporary until the holding of post-conflict elections. As such, RENAMO continued to hold its control over areas as territorial powersharing for a temporary period.

Dorina A. Bekoe, “Mutual Vulnerability and the Implementation of Peace Agreements: Examples from Mozambique, Angola, and Liberia,” International Journal of Peace Studies 10, no. 2 (2005): 51.

Territorial Powersharing – 1993

Territory under RENAMO control was administered by RENAMO members. On 15 March 1993, the Mozambique National Resistance (MNR) announced in a communique issued in Maputo that it would not participate in any of the peace agreement committees until the government resolved all the administrative problems of the MNR in Maputo, challenging recent statements about government expenditure on the MNR administration in Maputo made by the Minister of Construction and Water Joao Salomao.¹

A presidential decree was issued on 14 July 1993 that created a national commission aimed at facilitating cooperation and fostering understanding between the State Administration Ministry and the administration in areas controlled by the Mozambique National Resistance [MNR – RENAMO]. Meanwhile, RENAMO had issued a communique saying the state administration in RENAMO-controlled areas would only begin once the commission begins to operate. In its communique, RENAMO once again pointed out that the General Peace Accord signed in Rome referred to the existence of two administrations in Mozambique.²

“Mozambique: MNR Stops Participation in Peace Committees until Problems Resolved,” BBC Summary of World Broadcasts/The Monitoring Report, March 16, 1993.
“Mozambique: Radio Says Issue of ‘Double Administration’ Needs To Be Clarified,” BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, July 16, 1993.

Territorial Powersharing – 1994

As of 1994, most of the country was under government control, but RENAMO was restricting access to its strongholds in central Mozambique. After elections, the administrative control of RENAMO ended.¹

“Ballots, Not Bullets: Mozambique Goes to the Polls This Week but the Question is What Happens Next,” The Gazette (Montreal, Quebec), October 23, 1994.

Territorial Powersharing – 1995

RENAMO’s territorial powersharing ended after the elections as planned and a unified administration was established.

No further develoments.