Mozambique’s President Filipe Nyusi told lawmakers in the capital, Maputo that he will be signing a peace agreement with opposition Renamo leader Ossufo Momade on Thursday. The peace agreement will be signed at Renamo’s remote military base in the Gorongosa mountains in central Mozambique, reported Bloomberg.
The agreement with the main opposition party, Renamo, comes almost three decades after the end of a civil war. In the mid-1970s, Renamo fought a brutal 16-year civil war against the Frelimo government that left one million people dead before the fighting ended in 1992. Despite the end of the civil war, the group transformed into a political party and retained an armed wing. Violent clashes between government forces and Renamo soldiers erupted many a time from 2013 to 2016.
Nyusi made the announcement during an address to parliament on Wednesday.
“Thursday’s agreement provides for a formal end to the clashes between the Mozambican Defence and Security Forces and the armed wing of the opposition,” the president said while delivering a state of the union address in the country’s parliament.
He confirmed Renamo fighters have started handing over weapons this week as part of the process to integrate them into the nation’s army and police. Notably, a condition for the peace deal planned to be signed on August 1 is that the Renamo fighters will surrender their weapons to the government. Renamo reportedly still has around 5,000 fighters.
The signing of the peace deal will follow the general elections scheduled for October 15 in the former Portuguese colony in southeastern Africa.
Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa welcomed the peace deal between the government and the opposition in Mozambique.
“The Renamo (Mozambican National Resistance) peace deal announced today in Maputo is excellent news for Mozambique and Lusophone Africa,” Costa wrote in a tweet. “Peace is the best way to development and prosperity. Mozambicans deserve it. Portugal welcomes this news with joy and solid hope for the future.”
