The announcement last week of a long-awaited deal between the Mozambican government and its long-time opponent may have raised more questions than answers — and it’s too early to say whether it will bring stability and a "peace dividend" to the country. Ruling party Frelimo and opposition Renamo fought on opposing sides of Mozambique’s long civil war. The country has effectively been at peace since December 2016, but the conversion of the truce into a permanent deal has been dependent on the two sides reaching agreement on two thorny issues: the devolution of power to provincial governors, some of whom should be opposition politicians; and the proper integration of Renamo into the country’s defence forces, accompanied by Renamo’s disarmament — which was supposed to have happened following the 1992 peace agreement, but did not. Speaking in Maputo last week, President Filipe Nyusi announced that agreement has been reached on the question of devolution. Provincial governors, until now ...
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