In light of emerging conflicts with borderless extremist organizations, and new found wealth, African defence budgets have soared 65% since 2004, according to The Economist, greater than any other region in that time frame. Almost without fail, since the onset of the Cold War era, ballooning defence budgets are often indicative of impending crises, not only in terms of violence but in the cessation of civil liberties and international instability. How prepared is Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) to deal with the insurgency troubling Mozambique?
To ameliorate this, the sale of arms must follow a strict and discriminatory guideline. This is why the international community must be cohesive and cognizant, even apprehensive, as Mozambique embark on her very own “War on Terror”. Unfortunately, the profit margin for manufacturing in the lucrative arms market is quickly establishing a place in Africa. The same Economist article divulged that “four major European arms manufacturers have set up African subsidiaries”. These will no doubt become economic boons but they carry with them the latency of war.
Ahead of time, we should seek to understand (the Islamic State) modus operandi if we are to anticipate and predict challenges ahead”. This understanding, hopefully shared amongst the milieu of African politics, will (hopefully) be indicative of a circumspect and deliberate course of action to repel extremist behaviour in SADC region. A strong internal defence approach combined with precisely defined and rigidly tailored tactical excursions, targeting only locally substantiated objectives, should be the tenets of this nascent conflict. The global community needs to facilitate such equitable actions as well.
Another area of concern that could exacerbate the insurgency in northern Mozambique is the high unemployment rates in SADC region. The unemployed youth will deviate to self-destructive habits and become easy recruits of this outpost of Islamic State in Mozambique. The unemployed youth are easy targets and recruits for these radical militant groups. As observed by Chancy Dzama, often with poor education these radical militant groups appeal to the youth in poverty as they are seen as the only viable route to leave poverty and give a reason as if the youth are fighting for a cause. When in fact such poor young people are just pawns and expendable in the conflict. Invariably, it seems to me, certain criteria must be met before a nation can hope to flourish, security and stability, transparency and accountability, and the development of business and infrastructure. While these guidelines are by no means exclusive of one another, nor strictly chronological in implementation. However, some semblance of this order is necessary, especially considering the familiar detachment of government policies to the populations they manage. This is why Malawi government should consider sending its military personnel along our borders with Mozambique just to make sure security measures are adhere to.
Some strides have been made in anticipation of incautious military action. The U.N.’s Forward Intervention Brigade where Malawi’s MDF is a participant and African Union Peacekeepers have had success in presenting a unified front. The term coalition should be avoided these days to avoid negative connotations. These organizations also lend some transparency to unilateral operations and a more honest assessment of the aftermath of military operations. Obviously these methods of waging war are by no means faultless, it is a step in the right direction. Mutual policing will be fundamental in preventing atrocities associated with militant groups. Another question worth asking is who is supporting and supplying this militant group with military hardware in northern Mozambique? The regression of the security situation, particularly in Mozambique the rising stars of self-reliance, threatens to derail these upwardly mobile populations by the very real potential of a conflict whose scope can easily exceed any in SADC region. The most significant distinction of this rising conflict is the link to a well-funded and ambitious international terrorist culture. Though intelligence is inherently faulty when evaluating extremist groups, links between African insurgency groups and organizations like Al Qaeda and (if not already, certainly soon) Islamic State are all but assured.SADC region is no more immune or insusceptible to the threats from terrorism than any other regions. Terrorism and other forms of violence which pose security threat has become one of the continents of Africa major challenge. Some of these domestic ideologically-inspired violent groups handle periodic bouts of murderous mayhem. Most of these extreme groups have attracted ample media attention. Moreover, it is suggested that a range of socio-economic and political conditions in Africa has given birth to criticisms and disputes that have been utilized by revolutionary individuals to vindicate their choice to violent activities. Nature has revealed that people who are subjected to unjust and undue treatment act in response violently, although sometimes the directs of the aggression are misplaced.
