SADC confirms the start of its troop withdrawal from Cabo Delgado

This is the first time that SADC has publicly confirmed the withdrawal and that the process is already underway. However, paradoxically, this occurs at a time when terrorism has gained new momentum, with reports of attacks on communities, positions of the Defense and Security Forces, and a series of beheadings.

SADC's Executive Secretary, Elias Magosi, recently visited Cabo Delgado, where SADC troops have been fighting insurgents backed by the Islamic State since July 2021, to "oversee and appreciate the Withdrawal Process and Exit Plan from the Province."

According to the statement published by SADC on its official page, it was decided in August 2023 to begin the troop withdrawal by December 15 and end the mission by July 15, 2024. Although the end of the SADC Mission in Mozambique (SAMIM) was scheduled until June last year, it seems that this time the departure will not fail.

In July 2023, information circulated about a meeting of SADC leaders in which the member states allegedly agreed to end SAMIM within a year. In December, Botswana's President, Dr. Mokgweetsi E.K. Masisi, announced that SAMIM should end in July 2024.

This narrative was repeated in January by General Jacob John Mkunda, head of the Tanzanian People's Defence Force, the country leading the SADC Troika.

Despite its mandate to neutralize the threat of terrorism and restore peace, order, and public tranquility, SADC troops will leave Cabo Delgado in a precarious security situation, at a time when it is expected that the TotalEnergies' more than $20 billion liquefied natural gas project will resume operations.

The confirmation of SADC's withdrawal comes during an escalation in fighting with insurgents, who in recent weeks have attacked along the N380 highway, taken control of much of the coast of Macomia district, and sent fighters to southern Cabo Delgado.