Comparative Mediation and Its Outcome in African Wars of Insurgency: Angola and Mozambique
Abstract
This study has sought to establish why similar conflicts respond to mediation differently
by examining the civil wars in Angola and Mozambique. Both conflicts attracted
international mediation efforts and whereas the mediation in Mozambique yielded peace
within two years of the start of mediation, the conflict in Angola persisted for fourteen
years after the first attempt at mediation. The similarities between the two countries
including a shared history of domination by the Portuguese, the attainment of
independence the same year and the eruption of civil war characterized by external
interference should have resulted in a similar response to mediation. That was not the
case, as the Angolan war lasted fourteen years after the initiation of negotiations while in
Mozambique it was two. The study has proceeded along the hypothesis that it was the
idiosyncrasies of the leaders in both conflicts that caused the divergence in outcomes of
the mediation.
The results of the study revealed that mediation in the two cases was affected by four
factors, namely; the ripe moment; choice of mediator; impartiality and neutrality of the
mediator; the ownership of the mediation process and the implementation of the
agreement. The differences in response to mediation of the two conflicts led to the
conclusion that the idiosyncrasies of the individual leaders in the conflicts ultimately
decided whether mediation succeeded or not.
The study made three inferences regarding mediation: mediation efforts require an
understanding of the psyche of the leaders involved in order to avert unnecessary
prolongation of conflict; consultation with the constituents for the agreement is to be
respected and that inclusive governance obviates the winner-take-all approach to
elections which spawns conflict.
Publisher
University of Nairobi
Subject
African Wars of InsurgencyRights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United StatesUsage Rights
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/Collections
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