Rwanda on Friday became the first foreign country to deploy a force to Mozambican northern region of Cabo Delgado, sending 1000-strong joint military and police force to the terrorism-stricken province. Since 2017, civilians in the area have not known peace thanks an extremist Islamist insurgency that has killed over 2000 people, beheading many of them, and drove hundreds of thousands others from their homes. The deployment of officers and men and women of the Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) and the Rwanda National Police (RNP) came at the request of the Government of Mozambique and is in the context of the bilateral agreements the two countries sealed in 2018, according to a statement by the Government of Rwanda. The mandate of the force is to work closely with the Mozambique Armed Defence Forces and forces from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) bloc in restoring state authority in “designated sectors of responsibility”. Rwanda’s deployment follows Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi’s visit to Rwanda in April during which he and his host, President Paul Kagame, discussed insurgency and religious extremism facing the country. Tasked to help restore state authority through conducting combat and security operations, as well as help bring about stability and security-sector reform, the Rwandan force exemplifies the country’s commitment to the Responsibility to Protect doctrine and the 2015 Kigali Principles on the Protection of Civilians. Both instruments place civilians at the centre of international response to crises, anywhere, in which people’s lives are threatened. Now, Rwanda is no stranger to deployments to conflict-torn countries, having become the first African country to send troops to Darfur, Sudan back in 2004. It would later deploy military and police forces to South Sudan, Haiti and Central African Republic, putting it in the world’s top four troop and police contributors. Rwanda’s involvement in international peacekeeping is largely informed by the country’s tragic experience in the run-up to and during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, which claimed the lives of more than a million people as the international community stood idly by. The killings were only brought to a halt by then forces led by current-President Paul Kagame, which went on to form the backbone of RDF. Indeed, besides defending the territorial integrity and national sovereignty of the Republic, collaborating with other security organs in safeguarding public order as well as ensuring compliance with laws, and participating in humanitarian activities in case of disasters, and contributing to the development of Rwanda, RDF is mandated to “participate in international peacekeeping missions, humanitarian assistance and training”, according to article 10 of the law determining the powers of Force. Most notably, Rwanda’s deployment to Mozambique is a telling gesture of solidarity with a fellow African nation faced with violent extremism and needs every support to restore peace and order. It is an unequivocal expression of pan-Africanism and a concrete example of what is possible if African countries were committed to the idea of ‘African solutions to African problems’. With SADC forces expected to arrive in Cabo Delgado this week, joining hands with both Mozambican and Rwandan forces, the tide could soon turn on the butchers of Cabo Delgado and sanity restored in the region. Indeed, Africa must not wait for external saviours to save us from ourselves.
