Tanzania will not send troops to Mozambique – Minister

By Bethsheba Wambura, DAR ES SALAAM Tanzania

Tanzania will not send troops to Mozambique to counter insurgents in gas rich Cabo Delgado Province which is close to the border between the two countries.

The Tanzania government has, instead, emphasised on the need for talks as a means of promoting peace and tranquillity in Mozambique, calling on the international community to help the country by sending development aids.

This was stated by Minister of Foreign Affairs and East Africa Cooperation, Liberata Mulamula (pictured above) during the opening of a two-week discussion on how to contain the insurgency in Cabo Delgado, coordinated by Centre of International Policy (CIP), in Dar es Salaam.

This comes after the regional body of 16-nation states sent a technical team to verify events in the area and advise its heads of state forum on the way forward.

The technical team has recommended that SADC deploys a 3 000-strong robust intervention force comprised of land, air and naval assets to help quell the insurgency.

The decision to intervene militarily is a clear indicator that the deadly insurgency, which began in earnest in October 2017, has long passed the stage where it can be seen as a purely domestic problem to be addressed by Mozambique as a sovereign state

According ambassador Mulamula Tanzania has no plans because they don’t know whom to fight with, instead they will make sure they participate through talks to stop terrorism and crimes continuing in Mozambique.

The minister said Tanzania will continue to cooperate with Mozambique to discuss the best way to maintain peace, safety and security.

“There have been groups that have conducted acts of terror in Msumbiji [Mozambique], you will remember since the chaos started Southern African Development Community (SADC), has met on different occasions to find a solution,” she said.

She said Cabo Delgado is the border between Tanzania and Mozambique where the regions of Mtwara and Ruvuma are found, so the chaos is threatening tranquillity in the border regions and that is why both countries come together to find a solution.

“Tanzania as usual, when the neighbour country is not in peace, we will not sleep so we are on the same line to help with other SADC countries to fight terrorism,” she said.