Mozambique: Attorney General’s Office opens case against Mondlane’s ‘presidential decree’

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Mozambique: Attorney General’s Office opens case against Mondlane’s ‘presidential decree’

3:33 CAT | 27 Jan 2025

File photo: Lusa

Mozambique’s Attorney General’s Office announced on Monday that it has opened proceedings to investigate whether the self-styled “presidential decree” of former presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane “subverts” the principles of the democratic state.

“As a result of the facts, appropriate proceedings have been initiated for due accountability,” reads a statement the Attorney General’s Office sent Lusa.

“The publication of the alleged decree by the same citizen constitutes a flagrant violation (…) of the Constitution of the Republic since this act constitutes a prerogative reserved for the competent organs of the state and is published in the Bulletin of the Republic” it adds.

The Attorney General’s Office also said it was “aware”, referring to one of the 30 measures published by Venâncio Mondlane, “of an alleged election and swearing-in of neighbourhood secretaries, heads of localities, administrative posts and district administrators in various parts of the country, outside the legally established rules for this purpose”.

“The exercise of the functions of the entities mentioned above is governed by law, and any act to the contrary is not only illegal, null and void, but also subverts the principles of the democratic rule of law and constitutes a criminal offence,” it added.

Former presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane wants the people to set themselves up as an “autonomous court” and issue “judgements” against the police, citing the “macabre wave” of “summary executions” without the intervention of the authorities.

The position is set out in a document, released last Tuesday, which he calls a “decree”, published in the self-styled “Jornal do Povo”, with 30 measures for the next 100 days, one of which Venâncio Mondlane, who signed it, stated that “it is up to the people, the victims, to set themselves up as an autonomous court that issues sentences to stop the macabre wave of the UIR, GOE and Sernic”, referring to units of the Police of the Republic of Mozambique that he accuses of “incessant flurry of summary executions”.

“Faced with the complete inertia and silence of the authorities of the Front for the Liberation of Mozambique [Frelimo], who have disrespected the people’s right to choose who governs by stealing votes. What institution would the people turn to if not themselves in the form of self-protection?” reads the document, in which Mondlane cites the “right to an equitable reaction for defence” and calls on the members of these police forces “to reveal the perpetrators of summary executions” so that “the people’s court can pass sentence”.

Although the document doesn’t say it this way, in an intervention on his official Facebook account on 17 January, Venâncio Mondlane called for the application of the so-called “Law of Talion” from the Bible.

“Every member of the population murdered by a member of the UIR [Rapid Intervention Unit] is automatically paid for by the same coin, that member of the UIR is also wiped out of existence, he goes to hell (…) Call me an agitator, call me whatever you want, the people are being killed, they’re being kidnapped, that’s how it’s going to be,” he said.

The Attorney General’s Office stated that “due to the content published in the newspaper”, it made “a prior enquiry to the Information Office (Gabinfo), the body that coordinates and supervises the media in Mozambique, about its legality, and it was found that the newspaper called Jornal do Povo is not registered”, which means that “its existence and circulation constitutes a clandestine press”.

“In these terms, the Attorney General’s Office urged citizens in general to contribute to political and social stability and the maintenance of peace, and to this end to refrain from acts that could degenerate into disorder and/or violence,” it concluded.

In the document released last week, in which he presents other “government measures” for the next 100 days from what he describes as the “Office of the President-Elect”, Mondlane, who does not recognise the proclaimed results of the general elections of 9 October, which gave victory to Daniel Chapo – already sworn in as the fifth President of Mozambique on 15 January – demands the “immediate cessation of violence” by the UIR “towards the population and the silent genocide carried out” by the police forces.

According to organisations on the ground, such as the electoral platform Decide, in three months of post-election demonstrations, since 21 October, at least 315 people have died, and around 750 have been shot, with more than 4,100 detainees reported.

“The unconditional release of all those detained as part of the demonstrations” and “compensation for the relatives” of the victims of the demonstrations with 200,000 meticais (€3,000) are other measures proposed by Mondlane.

The “extension of the non-payment of all tolls”, “free” access to water, a 50% reduction in the price of domestic gas and electricity and the setting of a price of 300 meticais (€4.50) for a 50-kilogram bag of cement – claiming that the same product is sold more expensively in Mozambique than in neighbouring countries – are all on the list.

Source: Lusa