Mozambique
What happens when a country moves on from war to peace and begins to re-build. Mozambique, a country known more in the media for its floods, was ravaged by a horrific 16-year-long civil war. Since that war ended in 1992 the country has been looking to the future…
Where is Mozambique?
Mozambique is a vast country at the South East corner of Africa, next to South Africa and Zimbabwe. With one of the most stunning and longest coastlines in the world, it should have been on the tourist map for decades but due to one of worst civil wars in the century, it is still recovering from being brought to its knees.
What happened to it?
For decades Mozambique was a Portuguese colony. The Portuguese ran it rather like an extension of the Portuguese tourist coast; prawns by the sea shore in the sunset and cheap local staff – a variation on the decadent life that many colonial families had in other parts of the world, all at the expense of any kind of justice for the local people of the land. They did not dominate all of the inland areas, partly due to the country’s size, but also they focussed domination in places where they could set up profitable commerce - sugar or cashew plantations - to take the profits back to Portugal.
In 1976, no sooner had the resistance movement Frelimo sprung up and claimed independence from the Portuguese, the new government found themselves in a bloody civil war. As with many conflicts, there was an initial grievance - that power had not in the end been given equally to all those who took part in the struggle to get rid of the Portuguese. Those who felt cheated formed a rebel resistance, but it was a fairly weak one. Weak, that is, until countries such as South Africa and Britain decided the rebel group were just the instrument they needed to destabilize the new communist government. Bob Dylan’s well-known song in praise of ‘sunny Mozambique’, brought out just previously, started to take on a darkly ironic feel.
What effect did the war have?
Complete devastation. The country’s transport possibilities were all but decimated during the 16 year long civil war, train lines destroyed, roads in ruins and anywhere off the beaten track covered in landmines. During the war years, 1976 – 1992, very few aid agencies even felt they could work there, let alone any tourists visit for a holiday. Already poor administrative and commercial infrastructure became victim to fear, corruption and robbery and hospitals and health posts were destroyed. Schooling for millions was just put on hold, only for some of them to try and complete over a decade later as adults. Many school students were forced to fight, or believed they had to for the meagre payment they may get to be able to survive. The rural areas became so dangerous because of the groups of enemy fighters at loose, that huge sections of the population fled to cities that were not even able to cope with the people who already lived there, let alone a huge swelling of numbers. Families were split up, sometimes as a result of having to flee without any preparation. Overpopulated slums in the cities bred disease and there was little treatment, but these were really the only fairly secure places in the country. Just half a mile out of the handful of main cities were roadblocks, after which was the threat of a lawless no-man’s-land. And so the cycle of poverty and conflict continued.
How did peace win through?
It is a complicated process which involved a political move away from communism towards a capitalist free market system and some outside ‘mediators’, such as the grassroots community of St Igidio, working hard over many years to get leaders ‘to the table’ to agree and sign a peace agreement. This agreement, in 1992, was welcomed by almost everyone, as all could see their country lying in ruins. Thankfully in this case, the peace agreement held firm and the country could begin to rebuild.
And did the country manage to rebuild?
Mozambique is still one of the poorest countries in the world, but we have to see that alongside the progress that has been made and in the context of a war, which literally sent the country backwards in terms of its progress and development.
One of things people comment on when arriving back for the first time since a visit during the war, is the vehicles. Cars were few and far between and now Maputo has its very own horrendous ‘rush hours’ with traffic jams across the city. Culture suffers too during conflict. Now many people are finding a more positive cultural voice again; music groups, theatre groups, poets, writers, artists, dancers, songs, are all flourishing much more. The national television and radio have developed, there is enthusiasm for sport and there are even weekly TV and radio show presented by and for children. Festivals and national days are celebrated and the national anthem sung with pride, after being re-written to be less politically biased and more ‘inclusive’.
There is still a sometimes fierce political battle, in the media and during election campaigns, but few would want to turn this into violence. The majority know that any frustration about injustices of rich and poor, or for example, the rural areas being neglected in favour of the towns, needs to be presented to those in power whose responsibility it is to bring the benefits of development to all. The growing enthusiasm to get education to a greater section of the population will help in the growth of this civil society.
On July 6th 2005, the day of the Gleneagles world summit, the UK’s “Independent” newspaper ran its entire front page article on Mozambique: “After years of civil war, floods and Marxist misrule”, the headline began, “Mozambique now has soaring growth, falling poverty and rising literacy. Its story should inspire the G8 leaders” (Raymond Whitaker, Independent). The only way to make such a headline possible about Mozambique was by reversing the destruction brought about by conflict, and starting the rebuilding that is only made possible by peace.