Police in Mozambique disperse opposition protest after disputed election

Riot police in Mozambique’s capital, Maputo, fired tear gas to disperse a crowd protesting against alleged electoral fraud days after two opposition allies were shot dead.

Several hundred people, including journalists, scattered as heavily armed police marched down a main street on Monday. The Reuters news agency reported some police officers firing handguns while dispersing the crowd.

Adriano Nuvunga, director of Mozambique’s Centre for Democracy and Human Rights, said bullets hit two journalists and a security guard but not seriously wounded.

Opposition leader Venancio Mondlane, who ran for president in the October 9 election, had called for a general strike to contest early results showing the ruling Frelimo party ahead.

Shops in Maputo were closed, and helicopters were hovering above the city of around one million people.

People hold a poster and their national flag during a nationwide strike called by Mozambique presidential candidate Venancio Mondlane [Siphiwe Sibeko/Reuters]

“Venancio”, as he is popularly known, was among those dispersed and he later posted a video on Facebook showing him running away from tear gas, surrounded by supporters. He told reporters that police had tried to stop him from attending the demonstration.

“This morning I couldn’t get out of my house. I had people at my doorstep, including the police. It took me an hour to get out,” said the 50-year-old.

Tensions rose over the weekend after two Mondlane associates were shot dead in Maputo.

Lawyer Elvino Dias and Paulo Guambe, a candidate from the small Podemos party which backs Mondlane, were in a car when they were surrounded by other vehicles and shot dead on Saturday, witnesses said.

Podemos leader Albino Forquilha confirmed the killings to AFP news agency, while police stated that an investigation had been launched but did not confirm the identities of the two men.

‘Paralysed’ country

The European Union, African Union, and United Nations have condemned the incident and called on authorities to identify the perpetrators.

In a statement, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on “all Mozambicans, including political leaders and their supporters, to remain calm, exercise restraint and reject all forms of violence.”

The head of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, said he had “deep concern” over “reported cases of post-election violence and in particular the recent killings”.

Last year, several people were killed in clashes after Frelimo, the party in power since independence 49 years ago, won the municipal elections.

Official results from the presidential and parliamentary elections are still pending.

Mozambique’s electoral commission has declined to comment on accusations of fraud.

US-based observers said the poll did not meet international standards for democratic elections, noting reports of vote buying, intimidation, inflated voter rolls and other issues.

Initial indications of a low turnout in the coastal country of some 33 million people could erode the vote’s legitimacy.

President Filipe Nyusi, 65, is stepping down after two terms, but his party’s candidate, 47-year-old Daniel Chapo, is widely expected to win.

Other presidential candidates included Ossufo Momade, 63, of the main opposition party Renamo, and Lutero Simango, 64, of the Mozambique Democratic Movement.

Mondlane, who has already claimed victory, said his call for a general protest on Monday was a “great success”.

“The country was paralysed … 95 percent of private and public services across the country were paralysed,” he wrote on Facebook. He said the strike was followed in the cities of Chimoio, Nampula, Beira, and Maputo, among others.