Marromeu – impossible to know winner due to huge fraud | CIP Mozambique Elections

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Marromeu – impossible to know winner due to huge fraud | CIP Mozambique Elections

9:15 CAT | 14 Dec 2023

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

Major irregularities make it impossible to know who won in Marromeu, say observers

Serious irregularities in the repeat elections in Marromeu Sunday “do not allow any institution to declare, with any credibility and certainty, which list won”, the Mais Integridade civil society observer consortium said this morning (13 December).

“The irregularities included the interruption of the vote count at many polling stations so that the respective presidents could hold ‘consultations’ among themselves and with representatives of the Frelimo party before finalising the process and filling in the results sheets (editais); the departure of presidents from various polling stations with the editais without posting them; the excessive number of invalid votes, which is greater than the difference in votes between the two most voted lists; and other irregularities call into question the integrity, transparency and credibility of the process.”

For this reason, “Mais Integridade concludes that it is now up to the competent bodies, namely the National Electoral Commission (CNE) and the Constitutional Council (CC), to take the necessary corrective measures”.

The consortium notes that of the 41 polling stations, its observers were able to obtain results from 39; in some cases where results were not posted, this meant taking notes of numbers read out by polling stations heads. At the other two tables, 050331-01 and 050331-05 at the 25 June EPC, it was not possible to get the results because “the respective presiding officers expelled the observers from the room just as they were about to start the counting operations. By 3am, the notices had still not been posted, despite the fact that the vote count had finished many hours earlier” (Read the full statement here).

Police shoot Marromeu man dead during protest

Police shot dead Tito Joao, a seller in the fish market in Marromeu, Sofala, late yesterday afternoon (Tuesday 12 December) during a demonstration held by Renamo to protest against the municipal election results.

During the march police intercepted the Renamo motorcade, which provoked rioting and shots from several firearms. One of the shots hit a seller in the fish market in the head. The young man died instantly on the spot. The bullet fired by the police went right through the young man’s head and a small entry wound and a larger wound where the bullet exited are visible in this video (which contains graphic and disturbing images of the victim next to his stall.)

In its notice to remove the body, with the number 009/MINT/SERNIC-SFL/2023, the National Criminal Investigation Service (Sernic) did not reveal that the trader from the Fish Market, Tito João, was murdered by a police bullet. The document simply notes “A male human body was found without signs of life”. In the same document, Sernic confirms that he was not a demonstrator, but “a citizen going about his activities of selling fish”.

The young man lived in the 7 April neighbourhood, the same Marromeu neighbourhood where the Fish Market is located.

Renamo claims that it won the Sunday election in Marromeu, and on Monday it submitted an appeal to the relevant bodies protesting at the result announced by STAE. Also on Monday, the Renamo mayoral candidate and Renamo members and supporters took to the streets celebrating and chanting “Renamo has won”.

Source: Centro de Integridade Publica - CIP