Mozambique Elections: Teachers ‘coerced’ into taking part in Frelimo campaign – ANAPRO

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Mozambique Elections: Teachers ‘coerced’ into taking part in Frelimo campaign – ANAPRO

2:26 CAT | 13 Sep 2024

FILE - For illustration purposes only. [File photo: Lusa]

Mozambique’s National Association of Teachers (ANAPRO) on Friday denounced what it said was the “intimidation and coercion” of schoolteachers to take part in the campaign of Daniel Chapo, the candidate put forward by the country’s governing Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (Frelimo) for October’s presidential election.

“There have been situations of coercion and intimidation at national level, in which teachers are forced to leave their classrooms to take part in the campaign and, in some cases, to receive the presidential candidate supported by Frelimo,” the president of ANAPRO, Isac Marrengula, said in statements to Lusa.

Lusa tried unsuccessfully to contact Frelimo officials for a reaction to these accusations.

Mozambique is holding general elections on 9 October, with the campaign having officially kicked off on 24 August., in a ballot that includes presidential, legislative, provincial assembly and provincial governor elections.

The ANAPRO president alleged that teachers have been intimidated by school management, threatened with “arbitrary transfers” to teach in schools far from their homes and with “impediment” to career progression if they refuse to “receive and campaign for Frelimo and its presidential candidate.

“The schools are abandoned and as an association we repudiate this attitude, which is not in keeping with our mission, which is to educate,” the union leader said. “It’s reprehensible and, since it’s an election period, teachers shouldn’t be used for these things.”

He pointed out that abandoning classrooms to take part in campaigning for the general elections on 9 October threatens the quality of education: “We are in a situation where the teachers who remain in the schools are forced to work with an increasing number of pupils and, as these schools already have overcrowded classes, compliance with the curricula is also constrained.”

On 4 September, the Mais Integridade Electoral Consortium, made up of various civil society organisations in Mozambique, denounced what it said was the “misuse” of public assets by the three largest political parties during the first week of the campaign. for the October 9 elections, which will also see the choice of a new parliament and of provincial governors and assemblies.

“The misuse of public resources occurred in fourteen percent of the [electoral campaign] events observed, that is, in more than 200 events,” said the consortium’s coordinator, Augusta Almeida.

She said that use of public goods and officials was most prevalent in the provinces of central Mozambique, in 17% of initiatives, followed by the south, at 4%.

The consortium said that Frelimo was the party that had made the most “improper use” of material and human resources from the state, especially vehicles and teachers, in abuses that it said had been observed in 26% of its campaign events.

The main opposition National Resistance of Mozambique (Renamo), and the third-largest party in parliament, the Democratic Movement of Mozambique (MDM), were also observed making “improper use” of public resources but to a lesser extent, at 2% and 1% of their events, respectively.

More than 17 million voters are registered to vote in the general elections, including 333,839 registered abroad, according to data from the National Electoral Commission (CNE).

A total of 37 political forces have put up candidates in the legislative and provincial elections and there are four candidates for president: Daniel Chapo, supported by the ruling Frelimo party, Ossufo Momade, supported by Renamo, Lutero Simango of the MDM, and Venâncio Mondlane, backed by the extra-parliamentary parties Povo Otimista para o Desenvolvimento de Moçambique (Podemos) and Revolução Democrática (RD).

Source: Lusa