Mozambique: Activists, politicians will take to the streets on Saturday freedom march

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Mozambique: Activists, politicians will take to the streets on Saturday freedom march

6:56 CAT | 22 Jun 2023

The march will start around 08:30 local time on Saturday, at the Eduardo Mondlane Statue in central Maputo, the same place where violent police repression against young people who tried to march in honour of rapper Azagaia in Maputo took place on 18 March. [File photo: VOA Portugues]

A group of Mozambican activists and politicians will hold a march for freedom and the right to demonstrate in Maputo on Saturday, three months after violent police repression of a similar event that ended with several injured.

“We have decided to march, once again, for freedom because we feel that there is a regression in the country in relation to the fundamental rights of citizens, particularly in relation to article 51 of the Constitution, which gives us the right to demonstrate and march,” Salomão Muchanga, a Mozambican activist and politician who is organising the event, told Lusa.

The event comes four months after the violent police repression of a march in honour of the social intervention rapper Azagaia, episodes that left several injured and were condemned by several entities and organisations, classifying them as one of the most visible signs of the limitations to freedom of expression and demonstration in the country.

The authorities have been warned for the new march, which aims to praise “figures who fought for freedom” as part of the celebrations of 48 years of independence, to be held on Sunday, and the organisers believe that there will be no violent episodes.

“We cannot live on fear. We are a free people […] We are sure that once the authorities have been notified, within the time limits established by law, everything is guaranteed for this march to take place,” Salomão Muchanga said.

Lusa contacted the General Command of the Police of the Republic of Mozambique (PRM), which confirmed that teams will be sent to the field to “guarantee the safety of the people”.

“We will not be there to assault anyone, but the march cannot compromise public tranquillity and order. If disorderly situations occur, the police will be there to draw attention to these people. We reiterate the appeal for everything to be done according to the law,” the spokesman for the General Command of the Mozambican Police, Orlando Mudomane, told Lusa.

The initiative, promoted by the extra-parliamentary political party New Democracy, aims to celebrate the achievements of figures such as Eduardo Mondlane, founder of the Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo), Samora Machel, first president of Mozambique, Afonso Dhlakama, the late leader of the main opposition party (Renamo), Carlos Cardoso, the journalist killed in 2000 while investigating a fraud at the now-defunct Commercial Bank of Mozambique, as well as rapper Azagaia himself, among others.

The march will start around 08:30 local time at the Eduardo Mondlane Statue in central Maputo, the same place where violent police repression against young people who tried to march in honour of rapper Azagaia in Maputo took place on 18 March.

Source: Lusa