Lesotho Tribune can exclusively report that Lesotho Defence Force (LDF) Contingent deployed in Nangade district of Cabo Delgado Province in Mozambique, left their Forward Operating Base (FOB) and traveled over 900km to Pemba where they’re currently stuck in due to lack of airlifting equipment.
Angola provided the airlift for the military equipment that was used in Mozambique. In 2021 LDF spokesman Captain Sakeng Lekola was quoted as saying Angola is not assisting LDF like most of Basotho believe, stressing that Angola was implementing its pledge to the Southern African Development Community (SADC) of providing the airlift in this mission.
Sources with intimate knowledge exclusively told Lesotho Tribune that, the LDF Contingent is stuck, camping out in Pemba using torn tents, broken equipment and limited food supplies.
“Our contingent is stuck, it’s a logistical nightmare, we (LDF) was airlifted by Angola, and Angola has left! Imagine travelling 900kms in harsh environments only to be stuck in Pemba,” our source said.
Lesotho Tribune also learned that the mobile refrigerator and ambulance which belonged to SADC was taken on Monday 22 April.
“Our troops are stuck and without a refrigeration, SADC took its mobile fridge, one can only imagine how difficult it is to survive under such conditions!,” added our source.
Our source continued to paint the misery and hardships LDF contingent is going through, “adding salt to injury, the debit card which was earmarked for the troops has been disabled, this card was meant to allow the troops to purchase foodstuffs and their necessities, but to our surprise, we are told that ministry of finance closed that account.”
When asked to comment on the above challenges faced by the LDF Contingent stuck in Mozambique, Mr. Sakeng Lekola said he will not comment on the issues of LDF deployed outside of the country, “talk to government about these issues.”
Lesotho Tribune reached out to Principal Secretary (PS) for Ministry of Finance and Development Planning, Mrs. Nthoateng Lebona
and minister in the prime minister’s office Limpho Tau, but they didn’t respond to questions sent to them.
Our LDF sources who spoke to Lesotho Tribune on condition of anonymity because they’re not authorized to speak to media said Zambia is willing to airlift LDF Contingent on condition that government of Lesotho cover the costs, “Zambia is willing to airlift our troops but government needs to pay!”
Our source concluded, “also SANDF (South African National Defense Force) has promised to assist, but their plan is not realistic. They want to airlift their entire contingent, only then will they airlift LDF, but they’re saying due to their constraints, they’ll airlift military personnel first then LDF equipment…the big question is then what will happen to our equipment?”
Despite escalating violence, the Southern African Development Community Mission in Mozambique (SAMIM) is set to end in July, raising critical questions about the prospects of Cabo Delgado’s security just as TotalEnergies’ $20bn liquified natural gas (LNG) project is about to return.
The withdrawal of SAMIM was officially confirmed on 28 January, when a SAMIM statement acknowledged that the Executive Secretary of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), Elias Magosi, visited Cabo Delgado to oversee the drawdown of troops. However, the end of SAMIM had been signalled since last July, when a leaked document from a meeting of SADC heads of state revealed that a decision had been taken to conclude the mission by July 2024.
In December, Botswana President Dr. Mokgweetsi E.K Masisi told his army in Cabo Delgado that SAMIM “should have every reason to come to an end” by July. Then, on 22 January, General Jacob Mkunda, Tanzania’s Chief of Defence Force, stated that the SAMIM withdrawal would begin in March, with the last troops leaving in July.
SAMIM’s force consists of around 1,900 personnel, of whom just under 1,500 are from the South African National Defense Force, based in the embattled district of Macomia. The most significant consequence of the SAMIM withdrawal will be that it will force the Mozambican Armed Defense Forces (FADM) to fill the security vacuum these troops leave behind, but its performance so far has been far from encouraging.
On 18 January, FADM abandoned the strategic village of Mucojo, effectively handing the insurgents unbridled access to the Macomia coast. Mozambican security forces are known to be suffering from a shortage of food and many soldiers have not been paid in months. If the Mozambican military is struggling to fulfil its current responsibilities, it is hard to imagine it coping with an expanded role when SAMIM departs.
The first SAMIM contingent to withdraw was Botswana. The remaining six contingents (from Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Malawi, Tanzania and Zambia) are set to leave Mozambique by July. That will leave only a contingent from Rwanda assisting the Mozambican Armed Forces (FADM) in resisting the attacks by the jihadists of ASWJ (Ansar al-Sunna Wa Jamma), also known as ISIS-Mozambique.
