Mozambique Elections: Presidential candidate Mondlane calls for nationwide shutdown – Watch

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Mozambique Elections: Presidential candidate Mondlane calls for nationwide shutdown – Watch

6:18 CAT | 16 Oct 2024

Screen grab: Venâncio Mondlane/Facebook

Venâncio Mondlane is calling on all Mozambicans to cease activity on Monday in protest against the regime, promising even tougher action if the election results are not changed.

Mozambican presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane, currently ranked second according to the National Electoral Commission (CNE) count, has announced a general shutdown of public and private activities starting next Monday, October 21. The measure, which aims to contest the election results, was announced through a video posted on his official Facebook page, in which Mondlane made a direct appeal to the Mozambican people.

The candidate explained that the shutdown will begin at midnight on Monday and will be accompanied by peaceful demonstrations, including the display of posters repudiating what he considers a dictatorial and corrupt regime. Mondlane expressed discontent with what he described as the “kidnapping of the country by a small predatory elite” that, according to him, has dominated Mozambique for five decades.

“The time has come for the people themselves to give the signal that the people are in charge. On Monday, my brothers, we declare a general national strike, a shutdown of all public and private activity,” said Mondlane, adding that the action could escalate if the situation does not change.

The presidential candidate highlighted the presence of armoured vehicles in several areas of the city of Maputo, but assured that the strike would take place peacefully and that the security forces “will be of no use.” Mondlane stated that the strike action is the first step to demonstrate popular dissatisfaction and promised that, if the alleged electoral irregularities continue, other, tougher measures will be implemented.

With a combative tone and strong rhetoric, Venâncio Mondlane evoked the legacy of several historical figures from Mozambique, such as Eduardo Mondlane, Samora Machel and Afonso Dhlakama, stating that the fight for democracy and freedom must continue. At the end of his statement, he reinforced that the strike would be a milestone in the struggle of the Mozambican people for liberation from the “chains of slavery” and for the construction of a prosperous and democratic future.

The strike action, scheduled for next Monday, puts pressure on the authorities and increases political tension at a crucial moment for the country, still in the process of counting the results of the general elections.

Source: Deutsche Welle