Mozambique President in Secret Visit to Rwanda as Islamists Terrorize His Country
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The Mozambican President, Filipe Nyusi, flew to Rwanda on Wednesday for talks with his counterpart Paul Kagamé in Kigali, a visit that has not been announced in Rwanda.
The meeting served for Mozambique to understand Rwanda’s experience in combating terrorism in Central Africa, Mozambican TVM reports.
“We had a discussion about Rwanda’s experience in combating terrorism and violent extremism. Rwanda has an important role in Central Africa, together with United Nations forces, so we wanted to understand what the experience has been like,” said the Mozambican Head of State, moments after the visit to the Rwandan capital on Wednesday, quoted today by Television of Mozambique.
During the meeting, Filipe Nyusi reporyedly expressed his openness to receive support in the fight against terrorism in Cabo Delgado, but reiterated that the responsibility for protecting the country’s sovereignty rests with Mozambicans.
“This is a war driven by a lot of efforts and with different interests. We left the message to our brother [President Paul Kagamé] that we are open to all support, but we would not like the support to be imposed on Mozambicans”, stressed Nyusi.
The two heads of state addressed other topics, with an emphasis on the peace process and the management of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The visit, President Nyusi said, was also an opportunity to ask for Rwanda support for Mozambique’s candidacy for a non-permanent seat at the United Nations Security Council.
Mozambique is currently facing an Islamist rebellion in the north of the country. Regional bloc SADC last week agreed to send thousands of troups to battle the insurgency.
The region is said to be rich in natural resources including oil. French petroleum giant TOTAL announced this week that it was ending operations in the region as insecurity worsens.
It is highly unlikely that a head of state visits Rwanda without official announced in Kigali. The Presidency Twitter is where such information is released and followed with a lot of local media coverage. This time, local media is reporting from what the Mozambican media is releasing.
