Renewed protests took place in Mozambique on Friday, as opposition supporters decried the outcome of the country’s October 9 presidential election, accusing the long-ruling Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo) of vote rigging. Hundreds of people marched through the country’s capital Maputo, chanting slogans against Frelimo and calling for changes to government policies.
Demonstrations initially kicked off in late October, when Frelimo’s presidential candidate Daniel Chapo was declared winner of the election. Opposition leader Venancio Mondlane of the Podemos party, who came in second, accused Frelimo of rigging the election and called on his supporters to stage protests against the result, which is yet to be certified by the Constitutional Council.
A wave of demonstrations that followed led to violent clashes with police, in which some 50 people were killed and scores injured.
Earlier this week, Mondlane urged Mozambicans to stage a three-day mourning demonstration for protesters who died in previous demonstrations, which some warned could lead to further violence.
According to footage posted online by the Ruptly video agency, Friday’s rally was largely peaceful, with protesters calling on authorities to respect their civil rights and reassess the results of the election.
“We won this election. We know who we voted for, and we know who won. We want our rights,” one of the participants told Ruptly, claiming that Mondlane won and “the government knows it all too well.”
“We want change. Food. School. Everything. It has to change. We want a better future,” another activist stated. People were seen dancing and marching through the streets, blocking traffic, and chanting slogans such as “This country is ours, save Mozambique!”
“We’re asking for assistance from those who deal with the laws, that they take a look at our situation. We all voted. If the vote counts, it’s our civil right,” another protester said.
Late last month, international observers reported “irregularities during the counting and unjustified alteration” of the results. According to Reuters, Mozambique’s Constitutional Council gave the electoral commission several days to investigate why there were discrepancies in the number of votes counted. The commission has not yet made the results of its inquiry public.
In a nationwide address on Tuesday, outgoing President Felipe Nyusi invited the four candidates who took part in the election to a meeting in a bid to “find solutions to the current political impasse.” Nyusi claimed that post-election protests and violence have “created chaos and fear across the country.” Mondlane accepted the invitation in a video address on Friday, saying he would welcome an opportunity to discuss the steps necessary to contest the preliminary results of the election.
Mozambique Interior Minister Pascoal Ronda banned all protests earlier on Friday and asked the public to “co-operate with the authorities to stop the violence.” He described the demonstrations as “acts of terrorism” and said the “government wasn’t going to let [them] continue destroying the country.”