Mozambique: At least eight deaths in Inauguration Day protests – NGO

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Mozambique: At least eight deaths in Inauguration Day protests – NGO

6:37 CAT | 16 Jan 2025

Photo: Lusa

At least eight people have died on Wednesday in the post-election demonstrations in Mozambique, the day the new Mozambican president, Daniel Chapo, took office, according to a survey carried out by the electoral platform Decide.

According to data from the Mozambican Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) that monitors the electoral processes, there were three deaths in yesterday’s demonstrations in Maputo province, two in the city of Maputo, in the south of the country, and three in Nampula, in the north, bringing the total number of deaths since the beginning of the post-election demonstrations in Mozambique to 308.

“It should have been a day of celebration, but the demonstrations took on other proportions and we have more deaths in Maputo and Nampula”, says Decide in its report.

As of the beginning of yesterday, the NGO also counted 619 people injured by gunshots in the post-election demonstrations in Mozambique since October 21 and at least 4,228 people arrested in these protests, called by presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane, who does not recognize the results of the general elections of October 9.

Yesterday, the police used gunfire and tear gas to disperse a group of protesters who were protesting the inauguration of the President of the Republic, Daniel Chapo, about 300 metres from the inauguration ceremony in the centre of Maputo.

Around 12:00, a group of a few dozen protesters, holding signs supporting the presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane, insisted on gathering in front of the Bank of Mozambique, but were blocked by the police.

The protesters then began to throw stones on the road, prompting the police to intervene, firing several machine gun shots and launching tear gas, which led to the protesters temporarily fleeing. Some were chased along the route by officers from the Rapid Intervention Unit, at a time when the inauguration ceremony was taking place in the adjacent Independence Square.

A few minutes later, the same group gathered again at the same location, waving Mozambican flags and repeating the protest.

Mozambican security forces had already dispersed another group of dozens of protesters shouting “Mondlane” with batons, also about 300 meters from the place where the new President was sworn in, in the center of the capital.

Dozens of police, soldiers and canine teams prevented the protesters from approaching Independence Square.

The protesters, organized in different groups, were still shouting “Salve Moçambique” and singing the Mozambican anthem, saying that they wanted to watch the inauguration, but were prevented by the police.

The Mozambican capital was under heavy security measures yesterday and there had already been other police interventions to disperse, with gunfire, protesters who were setting fire to tires on the road at the entrance to the center of Maputo, shortly before the inauguration ceremony of Daniel Chapo as the fifth Mozambican President.

In the Bairro Luís Cabral area, groups of young people began to set fire to tires at around 9:00 a.m. local time, blocking the N4, which connects Matola to the entrance to Maputo, leading the police to fire several shots in an attempt to dismantle them.

Daniel Chapo was sworn in as the fifth President of the Republic of Mozambique, the first to be born after the country’s independence, in a ceremony attended by around 2,500 guests.

On December 23, Chapo, 48, was proclaimed by the Constitutional Council (CC) as the winner of the election for President of the Republic, with 65.17% of the votes, in the general elections of October 9, which included legislative and provincial assembly elections, which Frelimo also won.

Presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane, who does not recognize the election results, called for three days of strikes and demonstrations, starting on Monday, protesting the inauguration of the deputies elected to the Assembly of the Republic and the inauguration of the new President of the Republic.

Daniel Chapo’s election has been contested on the streets since October, with pro-Mondlane protesters – who according to the CC obtained only 24% of the vote but claims victory – demanding the “reestablishment of the electoral truth”, with barricades, looting and clashes with the police.

Source: Lusa