JOHANNESBURG — Mozambique’s president and the leader of country’s main opposition group signed a new peace accord Tuesday that they pledge will end years of violence and facilitate elections in October.
In signing the Peace and National Reconciliation Agreement in the capital of Maputo, President Filipe Nyusi and Renamo leader Ossufo Momade said they will peacefully participate in Mozambique’s elections on Oct. 15.
Portuguese news agency Lusa said the signing ceremony in Maputo’s central Peace Square was witnessed by five African heads of state, including South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, the EU’s foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and Portugal’s foreign secretary Teresa Rebeiro.
Portugal, which was the colonial power in Mozambique until its independence in 1975, has supported the country’s peace negotiations.
Thousands of Maputo residents attended Tuesday’s ceremony, including many children wearing T-shirts with the phrase “Ultimate Peace.”
The peace accord follows the signing by the two leaders last week of a similar agreement to cease military hostilities, which took place in Gorongosa National Park in central Mozambique.
The two agreements are the result of years of negotiations to bring an end to the sporadic violence that has persisted after the end of the country’s bloody 15-year civil war in 1992 in which an estimated 1 million people died. Another peace agreement was signed in 2014, but the violence sporadically flared up.
The new agreements call for the immediate disarmament and reintegration into society of more than 5,000 Renamo rebels. Some Renamo officers are to take up leadership positions in the military. However, only a few of the rebels have turned in their arms so far.
As part of the negotiations, Mozambique’s legislature amended the country’s constitution so that provincial governors will be elected, rather than being appointed by the ruling party. It is expected this reform will allow Renamo to win a few provincial governor positions in the central and northern regions where it has support.
Andrew Meldrum, The Associated Press
