Maputo, 20 May (AIM) – The Rwanda’s minister of foreign affairs, Olivier Nduhungirehe, has announced that the Mozambican government has secured the necessary funds for Rwandan troops to continue their mission against islamist terrorism in Cabo Delgado, since the European Union (EU) does not plan to renew its financial support.
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.
According to Nduhungirehe, in a post on X (formerly Twitter), the EU, which partly funded counter-insurgency mission, became reluctant to provide funding.
“This year, Rwanda decided to deal exclusively with the government of Mozambique, which, in its turn, has secured and will continue to secure the necessary funding for the Rwandan security forces in Cabo Delgado”, he wrote on X.
The minister, however, did not mention how much was secured and the Mozambican government has not commented on the issue.
Rwandan authorities had announced last March that it would withdraw its troops “if international funds are not secured to sustain the counter-insurgency mission.”
Rwanda 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 in Mozambique, 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.
In January of this year, the French energy company and the Mozambican government agreed to resume construction of the project.
Am/
