Killings, Alleged Fraud and Protests Heighten Tensions in Mozambique Ahead of Election Results
International bodies have urged for an investigation into the killing of opposition members, while external observers have cast doubts on the credibility of the elections.
Ahead of this week’s full announcement of the results of Mozambique’s presidential election, the country is on edge, as early results show that ruling party Frente de Libertação de Moçambique (Frelimo) is in the lead across all 11 provinces, with opposition parties calling for protests.
This tension has also been exacerbated by the killing of two opposition officials over the weekend. Last weekend, Elvino Dias, the lawyer of independent candidate Venacio Mondlane, and Paulo Gambe,a parliamentary candidate for the Optimist Party for the Development of Mozambique (Pedomos), a small, recently-created opposition party backing Mondlane’s presidential bid, were killed in a car ambush after they were set upon by armed men who fired a hail of bullets at them.
Mondlane, who is widely regarded as the strongest opposition candidate against Frelimo’s Daniel Chapo, accused Mozambique’s security forces of the killings. “This was a crime committed by the Defence and Security Forces. There’s no doubt about it. The special forces killed Elvino,” Mondlane said in a video posted on his Facebook page.
The killings of Dias and Gambe have been widely condemned, especially as allegations that the October 9 presidential election and its ongoing count have been anything but free and fair.
Mondlane’s accusations echo the sentiments of many who believe that the government is ensuring its potential presidential election victory will go uncontested. As a lawyer with a strong track record, Dias would have been invaluable to Mondlane’s legal disputes over the election results.
“Elvino was a good peaceful man... He believed in the judiciary,” Human Rights Watch researcher Zenaida Machadowrote in an X post. “Last year, during local elections, he led several elections court cases against the election commission, and he won. This year, he was preparing to do it again… and he was convinced he was going to win again…”
The U.S. government is one of several international bodies that have condemned the killings. In a state house statement on Tuesday, the U.S. urged a “swift and thorough investigation.” The EU also called for “for an immediate, thorough and transparent investigation.”
Earlier this week, riot police were deployed to the streets of Maputo to break up demonstrations by Podemos and Mondlane supporters who say that the election results have been rigged. Police fired teargas at protesters and shot at journalists while Mondlane was addressing the press during Monday’s protests.
External observers have already cast doubts on the credibility of the election. Yesterday, the European Union Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) released a statement urging Mozambique’s electoral commission to carry out the vote counting and aggregation process for the October 11 presidential election “in a transparent and credible manner.” The EU EOM stated that there have been irregularities that have led to an “unjustified alteration of election results at polling station and district level.”
In the several videos posted to his Facebook page, Mondlane has claimed victory and stated that he plans to take legal action against results that show otherwise. There are fears this could lead to clashes between security forces and protesters. After last year’s municipal election, which was widely alleged to be marred by fraud and rigging, there were clashes between police and opposition party supporters.
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Over the course of 2024, 20 African countries will be holding elections. For more election coverage, check out our Election Tracker.
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