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History and Government
History: Bantu tribes moved into the area part of which is now Mozambique from central and west Africa during the third century. The 11th-century empire of the Shona – the main ethnic group in modern Zimbabwe – covered part of Mozambique: relations between the two peoples are still very close. Much of the historical data for this period comes from the records of Arab and Indian traders who made contact with the region in the 10th century. The first European expedition to Mozambique was led by the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama who arrived in 1498. Thereafter, Portuguese influence gradually displaced the Arabs and Indians in the trading system. The Portuguese gradually moved inland, usurping the local rulers and taking over land and mineral resources.
In the 18th century, Mozambique became a major centre for the slave trade, an industry which continued to thrive for decades after its official banning in 1842. By this time, Mozambique had become a Portuguese colony, but administration was left to the trading companies who had received long-term leases from Lisbon. This arrangement ended in 1932 after the takeover in Portugal by the fascist Salazar government. Thereafter, Mozambique, along with other Portuguese colonies, was put under the direct control of Lisbon. In 1951, it became an ‘overseas province’. The economy expanded rapidly during the 1950s and early 1960s, attracting thousands of Portuguese settlers to the country. It was around this time that the first nationalist groups began to form. In the face of intransigent colonial authorities, the main nationalist movement, FRELIMO, began a guerrilla war which gradually wrested control of large parts of the country – especially in the north – from the Portuguese. The liberation war came to an end in 1974 following a military coup in Portugal. The new left-wing government in Lisbon had no wish to maintain an empire and negotiations on the country’s independence began immediately. Mozambique became independent in 1975, and FRELIMO took power in a one-party state. The FRELIMO leader Samora Machel was President from 1975 until his death in a plane crash in October 1986, initially following an orthodox Marxist programme while at the same time encouraging Western investment, a delicate policy which he followed with a fair degree of success.
Mozambique’s desperate problems are largely the result of the 16-year civil war which wrecked the country. The National Resistance Movement (RENAMO), set up by the white-run Rhodesian government and then backed by apartheid South Africa and the US, fought a guerrilla war against FRELIMO from 1976 onwards. Two peace treaties in 1984 and 1989 both broke down within months of their signing. Finally, a series of agreements brokered by the Italian government in late 1991 and early 1992 – which followed the first face-to-face meeting between President Chissano and RENAMO leader Alfonso Dhlakama – brought the fighting to an end.
A UN force, ONUMOZ, entered the country to guarantee the ceasefire, organise disarmament and police the scheduled elections. These were eventually held in October 1994 and won by Chissano and FRELIMO. The new government and president were sworn in at the end of December 1994 to continue the gargantuan task of economic and social reconstruction (by the end of March 1995, nearly all ONUMOZ personnel had left Mozambique). The Government was confronted with hundreds of thousands of refugees – many of whom were returning from exile or to their homes from other parts of the country – as well as large numbers of demobilised soldiers from both sides, massive social and economic dislocation, and the destruction of virtually all health and education services.
Despite inevitable setbacks, the Chissano government made steady progress in tackling these problems during the late 1990s, and at the latest poll in December 1999, Chissano and FRELIMO prevailed once again. Chissano has recently decided not to contest the 2004 poll; FRELIMO has selected Armando Guebuza, a veteran of the liberation war, as their presidential candidate. In the last few years, however, the government has experienced serious difficulties, especially on the economic front. There are two main causes: catastrophic flooding in the spring of 2001 which caused huge damage to the agricultural sector; and economic problems in neighbouring Zimbabwe and South Africa, upon which Mozambique relies heavily.
South Africa dominates Mozambique’s foreign relations. In general relations between the two countries are good and Mozambique has derived substantial benefits from the advent of democratic government in South Africa in 1994. Further afield, in an unexpected development and after strong lobbying from its southern African members, Mozambique was admitted to the Commonwealth in November 1994; it is the first non-Anglophone of the 53-member organisation.
Government: Under the 1990 constitution, the president holds executive power and appoints and presides over a council of ministers. Legislative authority belongs to the 250-strong National Assembly. Both the president and the National Assembly are elected for five-year terms.
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