In Mozambique, Three Candidates Hope to End Sitting Party’s 50-Year Rule
On October 9, Mozambicans head to the polls with hopes that the new president can turn the country’s economic and security conditions around.
Four candidates are on the ballot for Mozambique’s October 9 presidential election, as current President Felipe Nyusi’s second term comes to a close. Currently, observers and analysts are expecting a victory for Daniel Chapo, candidate for the ruling party, Frente de Libertação de Moçambique (Frelimo).
Chapo, 47, was considered a surprise choice for Frelimo to make, given that he didn’t have a significant political profile before his nomination. His background includes TV and radio presenting, and lecturing on constitutional law, before entering politics as a district administrator, and then as governor of Inhambane.
Opposition candidates
Frelimo has held power since Mozambique’s independence in 1975, and many see Chapo’s candidacy as a maneuvering tactic to appeal to younger voters fatigued by the party’s dominance of national affairs. This is part of what makes Venacio Mondlane the strongest opposition candidate, as he seeks to connect to those who want to break from the country’s existing political structures.
Mondlane initially planned to run for president under the banner of the Democratic Alliance Coalition (CAD), a new party he formed after leaving Resistência Nacional Moçambicana (Renamo), Frelimo’s main opposition. Both parties were embroiled in a 15-year civil war that ended in 1992, with several armed clashes continuing before a peace agreement was signed in 2019. However, the Constitutional Council withdrew CAD’s registration, leaving Mondlane to run as an independent candidate.
Despite the excitement Mondlane is generating, analysts like Adriano Nuvunga, director of the local Centre for Democracy and Human Rights, believe it will not be enough to change the status quo.
Other candidates include Ossufo Momade, leader of the Renamo party, and Lutero Simango, of the Mozambique Democratic Movement (MDM). At a recent rally, Momade linked Frelimo’s poor governance to the poverty experienced in resource-rich areas, while Simango is offering a non-militarized alternative that focuses on socioeconomic development.The issues
Going into the polls, key among the issues voters are taking into consideration are security, education and unemployment. Since 2017, armed insurgencies by Islamic extremist groups have ravaged the northernmost region of Mozambique, displacing thousands and killing hundreds of people, while projects in the gas-rich Cabo Delgado province have been disrupted by the conflict. Although the frequency of these attacks has decreased, the aftermath of the instability is still being felt. Chapo has vowed to defend Mozambique's "peace, sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
In theory, an end to the conflict could lead to an increase in potential revenue from the mining of natural gas deposits, which would in turn lead to infrastructural and economic growth. But the reality is stark: over 60 percent of the population lives in poverty, despite previous predictions by the IMF that gas exports would’ve transformed Mozambique’s economy.
Even now, there are worries that awareness and global action on climate change, in relation to fossil fuels, might affect revenue from gas exports. Also, as with many governments in African countries, gross mismanagement of any potential windfall is a possibility. All things considered, whoever replaces Nyusi has the mammoth responsibility of increasing the economic fortunes of Mozambicans.
In addition to security, creating more schools, improving education and creating more jobs are “the most important things out there,” says 22-year-old voter Alberto Jose. “Here in Mozambique, we suffer more because we don't have jobs. And we have a corruption problem.”
Corruption is a major issue young voters are concerned about. “The state is not run as it should be,” 25-year-old Sergio Melo, who lives in Beira, the capital of Sofala Province in Mozambique’s central region, tells OkayAfrica. “We need a force, something that can come into power and make things happen as they should.”
Defeating the ruling party, though, will be incredibly tough. Observers have accused Frelimo of using force and manipulating the country’s electoral institution to ensure it’s in total control of the country. Last year, Mozambique’s electoral commission declared that Frelimo had won 64 out of 65 seats during the municipal elections, including in territories known to be strongholds for Renamo.
A parallel vote count by independent observers reported that Renamo won a significant number of seats, including the capital Maputo, results that allege rigging on the ruling party’s side. After a series of unrests following the election, Mozambique’s constitutional court ruled that Frelimo won 56 municipalities, Renamo, four, and MDM, one. A repeat election was ordered in four municipalities, with Frelimo winning those.
For this election, observers say the campaign has been quite peaceful, with almost no noticeable violence, and they hope that the results reflect the will of Mozambicans.
Over the course of 2024, 20 African countries will be holding elections. For more election coverage, check out our Election Tracker.