SADC summit commends Mozambique for ‘holding peaceful elections’

Southern African leaders ducked the growing crisis in Mozambique when they met in Harare this week to discuss regional security challenges.

Meeting at a summit of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) on Wednesday, the leaders devoted most of their time to the instability in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), deciding to extend their robust peacekeeping mission there by a year. They said very little about Mozambique, where there have been continuing protests, sometimes violently suppressed by security forces, after claims of massive fraud in the 9 October legislative and presidential elections.

The official electoral authorities declared the ruling Frelimo party and its presidential candidate, Daniel Chapo, as the comfortable winners, but opposition candidate Venâncio Mondlane and his Podemos party insisted that, based on a parallel voter tabulation of results from individual polling stations, they had won. Independent election observers including the Episcopal Conference of Mozambique and the European Union also reported election rigging, including ballot box stuffing.

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It was evident from the summit that Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi’s SADC peers had accepted his narrative that all was going well until the results were announced and then Mondlane and Podemos unleashed violence because they had lost. The communique from the summit commended Mozambique — as well as Botswana and Mauritius — for “holding peaceful elections”.

It said the summit had received an update from Nyusi “on the post-election political and security situation in the country” and reaffirmed its “unwavering commitment … to work with Mozambique in ensuring peace, security and stability”. There was no reference to disputed election results.

Piers Pigou, the head of SADC research at the Institute for Security Studies in Pretoria, said: “SADC reverted to type, with a rote congratulatory reference to a ‘peaceful election’ — technically true, but will clearly rankle in the face of the violence that has followed subsequently.

“SADC references this, and has offered to help the Mozambique state with peace and stability issues, but comments off the back of a report from Nyusi which evidently will not provide a balanced picture of what has transpired.”

Pigou said it was unclear whether SADC had taken any account of opposition voices. He noted that SADC Executive Secretary Elias Magosi had urged Mozambicans to use available legal and other complaints options for dispute resolution.

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“This posture ignores the fundamental challenge regarding widespread perceptions that such processes and institutions are partisan and compromised. SADC will not get involved beyond further electoral reflections (final SEOM report) and a post-election assessment from SEAC, unless there are major disruptions affecting neighbouring countries, and/or Maputo invites them in, which seems unlikely.”

SEOM is the SADC Election Observer Mission, which gave the elections a pass in its interim report, and SEAC is the SADC Electoral Advisory Council.

The summit communique said leaders had also received an update on the peace and security situation in eastern DRC, where SADC deployed the robust peacekeeping SADC Mission in the DRC (SAMIDRC) in December to try to suppress ongoing violence including repeated attacks on government troops and civilians by the M23 group, armed and otherwise supported by Rwanda.

The summit “expressed concern at the continued deterioration of the security and humanitarian situation in the country” and extended SAMIDRC’s mandate by one year.

The leaders welcomed the continued efforts of the African Union Peace and Security Council and the United Nations Security Council in exploring various options to support SAMIDRC. This was a reference to SADC trying to find outside financing for its military engagement.

The leaders also commended Angolan President João Lourenço for trying to broker a ceasefire between the DRC and Rwanda but condemned the “persistent violations” of the ceasefire established on 4 August.

Pigou said SADC’s decision to authorise a further 12-month deployment for its SAMIDRC mission in eastern DRC was not unexpected, “but replete with challenges.

“It is clear that there has been only limited progress in terms of the accompanying political/negotiating track — that the ‘ceasefire’ brokered between Rwanda and the DRC in August under the auspices of the Luanda process is being continually violated, with prospects of consolidation something of a mirage, as both sides seek to strengthen their respective positions on the ground before seriously committing to sustainable compromises.

“SAMIDRC forces must wait and see how this plays out, although a return to hostilities will likely further expose the weaknesses of the SADC mission to deliver on its mission objectives against the M23 and other NSAGs [non-state armed groups].

“Who will pay for SAMIDRC? The SADC communique urges member states to pay their dues, which strongly suggests a number are not. It appears South Africa is doing the heavy lifting here, but it is unclear at this stage, to what extent.

“It is also unclear what additional monies Kinshasa is going to cough up; it did not meet all of its previous promises expeditiously in 2024, compromising the effectiveness of the mission. Other funding sources are in no way guaranteed; the communique commits to continue exploring available options. It is difficult to see these coming to fruition.” DM