Former Botswana president to mediate in Mozambique talks
MOZAMBIQUE 331
News reports & clippings
13 July 2016
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Ketumile Masire, former president of Botswana, will be in Maputo next week as surprise mediator in the government-Renamo peace talks, the Global Leadership Foundation (GLF) confirmed yesterday.
Having previously refused international mediation, government has now invited three very high profile mediators for the talks with Renamo. At talks between the two sides Thursday (7 July) it was agreed that as well as the three mediators chosen by Renamo there would be three mediators chosen by government. The three are:
+ Former Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, seen as close to President Filipe Nyusi.
+ Tony Blair. On 20 January the Tony Blair African Governance Initiative (AGI) announced "it is in the early stages of developing a partnership with the Government of Mozambique and has appointed two advisors in Maputo." Blair visited Mozambique in February 2015, just after the inauguration of Nyusi. http://www.africagovernance.org/article/agi-begins-work-mozambique Press reports have said the invitation is to the Tony Blair Faith Foundation, but it said this morning that it does not work in Mozambique.
+ Global Leadership Foundation (GLF). (O Pais 13 July, MediaFax & Zitamar 12 July)
The London-based GLF confirmed this morning that it had been asked "to assist in the talks" and that Masire would go to Maputo next week. The foundation is co-chaired by F W de Klerk and the board includes Chester Crocker; the two are allies from the apartheid era.
But another board member is Lynda Chalker, a former UK aid minister given honorary Mozambican citizenship by President Armando Guebuza in 2014. She has longstanding links and is a regular visitor to Maputo; her company Africa Matters is promoting Shell in Mozambique. (Africa Energy Intelligence 10 May) Masire is not on the board, but is a "member" of the foundation.
Comment: Matching Renamo's demand with its own high-profile mediators is an unusually bold step. There will now be a very large group of 18 people around the table - six on each of the Renamo and government teams and six mediators. Nevertheless, the high profile of the mediators could have three advantages:
First, they will not put up with the delays by both sides which led to such slow movement of previous talks, which could force the pace of the talks.
Second, the talks really need mediators who can think outside the box and find alternative ways forward.
Third, they may help with an item not on the agenda: money. Clearly Renamo head Afonso Dhlakama wants a lot of money, probably several hundred million dollars. A bankrupt government does not have that money to give, while Renamo will argue that it is bankrupt only because it stole so much money. The EU is both one of the six mediators and chair of the budget support donors, so its approval of giving money to Renamo would smooth the process. The obvious choice would be to set up the Afonso Dhlakama Democracy Foundation (similar to Chissano and Guebuza foundations) and provide substantial funding for that foundation, which Dhlakama could dispense as he wanted. jh
Editor: Joseph Hanlon ( j.hanlon@open.ac.uk)
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Comment: something will turn up: http://bit.ly/28SN7QP
Oxfam blog on Bill Gates & chickens:
http://oxfamblogs.org/fp2p/will-bill-gates-chickens-end-african-poverty/
Chickens and beer: A recipe for agricultural growth in Mozambique
by Teresa Smart and Joseph Hanlon: http://bit.ly/chickens-beer
Gas for development or just for money?: http://bit.ly/MozGasEn
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