Mozambique’s Forever Wars: Can the Military Affairs Commission, Christian Council, and Islamic Council Be Key Players in Building a National Peace Architecture?

Abstract

Mozambique has suffered two major conflicts in the past decade: localised intermittent armed conflict between the government and the Mozambican National Resistance (RENAMO) movement between 2013 and 2019 and violent extremism (VE) in the gas-rich northern Cabo Delgado province since 2017. In the former, violence mainly manifested itself in direct physical and structural terms, while the latter conflict has been characterised by cultural violence on top of structural violence, as religion has served to justify and legitimise direct violence. Using the Infrastructures for Peace (I4P) and adaptive peacebuilding concepts, this article examines the peacebuilding efforts of the Military Affairs Commission and faith-based organisations (FBOs), specifically the Christian Council of Mozambique and the Islamic Council of Mozambique. This exploratory empirical study argues that key issues and lessons from these efforts may serve as inputs for potential adaptive Disarmament, Demobilisation, Rehabilitation, and Reintegration (DDRR), which can contribute to preventing and countering violent extremism (P/CVE) in Cabo Delgado. As there has been no umbrella peacebuilding body, the article asserts that the Military Affairs Commission and FBOs can be crucial players in creating a potential National Peace Architecture (NPA) for sustaining peace in Mozambique.