Two people died in the northern Mozambican cities of Nacala and Nampula as police cracked down on rioters who are protesting election results that gave the ruling Frelimo party victories in 64 of 65 municipalities that held election on 11 October.
Citizens in Maputo, Nacala, Nampula and Quelimane took to the streets either mobilised by the opposition Renamo party or spontaneously. Contrary to previous days, police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the protesters, who were riled by the announcement on 26 0ctober by the National Electoral Commission (CNE) of the results, giving wins for the Frelimo even in places where there was ample evidence of fraud in favour of ruling party.
One of the dead is a policeman who was attacked by locals after firing against a child. Scores of people were seriously injured in Nampula, including a six-year-old child. The rioters then vandalised and burnt private property, including cars in the densely populated neighbourhood of Namicopo.
In Maputo, there are videos of Venâncio Mondlane, the Renamo head of list, claiming the protest had enlisted thousands of protesters. As police fired tear gas to disperse them, some protesters started throwing stones at cars and turning dust bins.
Comment
It is undeniable that President Filipe Nyusi’s term has been a political disaster. In an election year, a political crisis seems to have set in. the lack of leadership is evident. Nyusi decides by proxy, sometimes following the advice of Celso Correia; sometimes satisfying the appetites and unbridled ambition of retired General Alberto Chipande, while doing everything to appear and show that he is the president of the country, carrying out actions with little social impact, such as inaugurating wells in a titanic effort to fight the ghost of his predecessor and political enemy: Armando Guebuza.
The political and leadership crisis has a negative impact on the state’s ability to successfully implement policies with a major social impact. With the implementation of the Single Salary Table (TSU), Nyusi exacerbated wage differences, messed up a functional model and demonstrated his inability to manage processes and meet the needs of the masses. Demonstrations followed dissatisfaction within the civil service.
Within Frelimo, the crisis is critical. Nyusi is accused of being incapable and authoritarian. The Party does not meet to discuss national issues. When it does, it is to discuss groups: the composition of the Central Committee; positions in the government and public administration where people who serve the economic interests of the president and his group are rewarded.
The voices that want to discuss the country and its problems are silenced and drowned out.
It is against this backdrop that Frelimo went to the municipal elections. And it lost resoundingly in the main municipalities: Maputo, Matola, Quelimane, Gurué, Nampula, Angoche, Ilha de Moçambique, Chiúre and Cuamba.
And aided and abetted by the Technical Secretariat for Electoral Administration (STAE) and an electoral observer platform comprising its own members, Frelimo carried out a desperate fraudulent manoeuvre which involved replacing Renamo’s figures by its own.
Of course, Renamo is also to blame for the current situation. As unprepared as ever, Renamo only has itself to blame. A competitor since 1994, by now it should know the mechanisms and dynamics of electoral processes, yet it still failed to prepare itself in the most basic way possible and within the law.
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