Unknown assailants gunned down lawyer and opposition advisor Elvino Dias and PODEMOS (Optimistic Party for the Development of Mozambique) party election agent, Paulo Guambe, in the early hours of Saturday, in Maputo city.
Witnesses said that two pickup trucks blocked Dias’ vehicle and two gunmen immediately opened fire, killing Dias and Guambe who were sitting in front of the car. A third person sitting in the back seat was taken to the hospital in critical condition.
The murders took place between 00.30 and 00.40 on Saturday morning, on Joaquim Chissano Avenue, in the Coop neighbourhood in central Maputo.
Dias served as the lawyer for independent presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane and for PODEMOS, the leading extra-parliamentary party backing Mondlane’s presidential campaign.
Días was preparing of Mondlane and PODEMOS’ appeal to be submitted to the Constitutional Council challenging the outcome of the 9 October general elections. Meanwhile, the country awaits the announcement of the results by the National Electoral Commission (CNE) expected for Wednesday (23 October).
Hours later, Maputo city police spokesperson, Leonel Muchima, told the media that Días had been the victim of a crime of passion, without adding details. Youths in social media promptly challenged this assertion, pointing out that police could not have managed to solve the motivation of the crime within hours of the murders, especially because it is known to hardly solve such crimes.
Comment
Observers have aptly described Días and Guambe’s murders as politically motivated even if the police say otherwise. This is bolstered by the fact that it is not the first time that the police rushed to pin down the murder or assassination attempts of political or critical figures to the regime to “crimes of passion” or “debt settlement”.
In 2019, after the assassination of civil society activist Anastâcio Matavel in the run-up to the general elections, as he was leaving a training session of election observers, the police initially said that he had been murdered because he was carrying large sums of money – fortunately, the five people who shot him had an accident when the Gateway car crashed resulting in two dying on the spot, within minutes of the murder. The killers turned out to be members of a riot pólice unit doubling up as members of a death squad.
Initially, the officers were promoted but they were jailed after criticism from civil society.
When academic and political analyst José Jaime Macuane was kidnapped and shot in 2016, rumours that it was a crime of passion reared their head. But other analysts argued that the attempt against his life might have to do with his critical stance against the regime. Luckily, he survived the assassination attempt, but to date, nobody has ever been brought to justice.
Meanwhile, observers say that a close look shows there is a pattern. The assassinations aim at intimidating, terrorizing and silencing critical and dissenting voices, which undermines the country’s democracy and rule of law.
Furthermore, the assassinations of Dias and Guambe are likely to lead to political instability. heightening societal tensions. Already, Mondlane has called for a general strike on Monday, with the police warning against such a move. Regardless, the damage has already been done.
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