Mozambique Elections: KaMubukwane District Court rejects Renamo appeal – AIM

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Mozambique Elections: KaMubukwane District Court rejects Renamo appeal – AIM

8:50 CAT | 19 Oct 2023

The court in the Maputo city municipal district of KaMubukwana on Wednesday rejected an appeal by Mozambique’s main opposition party, Renamo, against the results declared in the district from the municipal elections held a week ago.

Renamo argued that the 253 polling station minutes and results sheets used by the KaMubukwane District Elections Commission in its “intermediate count” of the results were forged, and therefore asked the court to annul the intermediate count.

The court accepted that, during the count, the District Commission did not take the Renamo protests into consideration. But it added that Renamo had not proved that the results sheets used by the Commission were forgeries.

The district judge, Perseverança Mangamela, did not give her ruling in person. Renamo complained that she was not present in the courtroom, and just had her judgment printed out and distributed to the interested parties.

One of the Renamo lawyers, Elvino Dias, writing on his Facebook page described Mangamela’s judgment as “a legal aberration”. He said “everything that is written there is pure lies and completely diverges from what was discussed and proven in the trial”.

“I was surprised that we were called to hear the decision”, said Dias. “To our astonishment, it was still being typed up by the court clerk. The judge had already fled”.

In the northern city of Nampula, the Renamo appeal against the declared results was only partly accepted. The district court told the Nampula District Elections Commission to correct just some of the results sheets that Renamo claimed had been falsified.

Renamo had asked for the results to be annulled and the votes recounted. According to Renamo representative Ossufo Ulane, “the judge didn’t decide anything, he just pushed us towards the Constitutional Council. So far, Renamo has won, according to the minutes and the results sheets that we have. These are the ones that we wanted the court to analyse and compare with the other parties, but it didn’t”.

According to a report in the bulletin on the elections published by the anti-corruption NGO, the Centre for Public Integrity (CIP), the district court in Manjacaze, in the southern province of Gaza, rejected a Renamo appeal against the results, because the District Elections Commission had given no opinion.

This was because the Commission chairperson had simply refused to consider the appeal. Since the day after the elections, she has not attended Commission meetings, or taken phone calls from her collegues,

So the Manjacaze case joins the growing queue of Renamo appeals that must be considered by the Constitutional Council.

Meanwhile, Renamo continued its protest marches through the streets of Maputo, denouncing what it called a “mega-fraud”.

Addressing the crowd, the Renamo candidate for mayor of Maputo, Venancio Mondlane, declared “We’re not going to give up. We demand that the Attorney-General’s Office begin criminal proceedings against these corrupt individuals who stole votes”.

He claimed there were some officials of STAE (Electoral Administration Technical Secretariat) who had received bribes of half a million meticais (about 7,800 dollars) to falsify the results.

“We are going to denounce these people and publish their photographs on social media”, Mondlane threatened.

The march was peaceful and was escorted by the police. Mondlane said this was “a clear sign that we do not want disorder. We do not intend to damage public or private property”.

The Renamo marches will continue to be peaceful, he added, “but I cannot be responsible for the attitude of the people faced with the injustice of the electoral bodies”.

Municipal Districts and respectiva Neighbourhoods in Maputo city
KaMpfumu Municipal District

Neighbourhoods: Alto Maé A, Alto Maé B, Central A, Central B, Central C, Coop, Malhangalene A, Malhangalene B, Polana-Cimento A, Polana-Cimento B and Sommerschield;

Nlhamankulu Municipal District

Neighbourhoods: Aeroporto A, Aeroporto B, Chamanculo A, Chamanculo B, Chamanculo C, Chamanculo D, Malanga, Minkadjuine, Munhuana, Unidade 7 and Xipamanine;

KaMaxakeni Municipal District

Neighbourhoods: Mafalala, Maxaquene A, Maxaquene B, Maxaquene C, Maxaquene D, Polana Caniço A, Polana Caniço B and Urbanização;

KaMavota Municipal District

Neighbourhoods: 3 de Fevereiro, Albazine, Costa do Sol, F.P.L.M., Ferroviário, Hulene A, Hulene B, Laulane, Mahotas, Mavalane A and Mavalane B;

KaMubukwana Municipal District

Neighbourhoods: 25 de Junho A, 25 de Junho B, Bagamoyo, George Dimitrov, Inhagóia A, Inhagóia B, Jardim, Luis Cabral, Magoanine A, Magoanine B, MagoanineC, Malhazine, Nsalene and Zimpeto;

KaTembe Municipal District

Neighbourhoods: Inguide, Incassane, Guachene, Chali and Chamissava;

KaNyaka Municipal District

Neighbourhoods: Ribzwene, Inguane and Nhanquene.

Source: AIM