EU will contribute to funding Rwandan troops in Cabo Delgado – Chapo

Maputo, 6 Jul (AIM) – Mozambican President Daniel Chapo has revealed that the European Union (EU) will contribute to funding Rwandan troops for the continuation of their mission against Islamist terrorism in the northern province of Cabo Delgado.

The Rwandan Forces were deployed to northern Mozambique in 2021 at the request of the Mozambican government to support the fight against terrorists operating in the region.

The President’s statement emerged after Rwandan authorities announced that they would withdraw their troops “if international funds are not secured to sustain the counter-insurgency mission”, after the EU, which partly funded the counter-insurgency mission, became reluctant to provide funding.

According to Chapo, cited by the independent paper “O País”, the operations of the Rwandan forces will be funded by public funds and those coming from the EU.

“As always, the funding is for both Rwandan and Mozambican Forces through training, because EU does not provide support in lethal military equipment and, at this moment, negotiations are underway for the continuity of the agreements”, he said.

Chapo also said that the government is mobilizing funds for the reconstruction of Cabo Delgado, after they were destroyed by Islamist terrorists. “We will use all means at our disposal to prevent the war from compromising the country’s development plans. The government keeps all avenues open to achieve stability, including the possibility of talks”, he said.

According to the President, it is “very difficult to predict when terrorism will end.”

“We are doing everything within our power, including the possibility of dialogue, to end terrorism. What we would like is for it to end, and its conclusion will therefore allow us to be at peace, and peace is the fundamental condition for development”, he added.

Rwanda, which claims to have over 6,300 soldiers in the country, has so far received about 20 million Euros (23 million US dollars at the current exchange rate) in EU support for the counter-insurgency mission, which the Rwandan authorities claim that it was “a fraction of the cost being ⁠borne by Kigali and the effort had cost Rwanda at least 10 times that amount.”

The insurgency in Cabo Delgado, which erupted in 2017, brought construction of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) project, headed by the French company TotalEnergies, to a halt. But work by the Mozambican defence and security forces and their Rwandan allies, particularly in the key districts of Palma and Mocimboa da Praia, allowed TotalEnergies to lift the state of force majeure which it had declared in 2021.

Am/