Insurgency in Mozambique: Can SADC’s NATO’s Article 5 Treaty Address Future Insurgences in the Region

Calls for initiating a practical binding peace and security framework in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) remain persistent, similar to that of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Article 5, which stipulates that if a member is the victim of an armed attack, every member of the Alliance would collectively respond. While Mozambique has suffered from civil war, the insurgency in Cabo Delago has brought back memories of suffering, destruction, and a divided society. The insurgency in Mozambique has questioned the idea of collective security and exposed the current ineffective security framework undertaken within the region. This chapter seeks to critically analyse the possibilities of enhancing a binding security framework to eliminate future security threats in the region. The chapter adopts a qualitative approach, where the review of the literature relating to collective security and insurgency in the region was undertaken. The chapter is anchored on the following questions: Can the SADC develop a responsive binding security framework? What are the challenges of initiating such a framework for addressing the insurgency in Mozambique and future threats that might emerge in the region? African epistemology would address these questions, which supports the notion that African challenges require African solutions.