Mozambique: Former president Guebuza calls for true perpetrators of double homicide to be held accountable

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Mozambique: Former president Guebuza calls for true perpetrators of double homicide to be held accountable

3:01 CAT | 22 Oct 2024

FILE - For illustration purposes only. [File photo: Lusa]

Former Mozambican president Armando Guebuza has called for clarification and the accountability of the “true perpetrators” of the “macabre” double homicide of supporters of presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane, criticising its “opportunistic exploitation”.

“We cannot allow the forces of evil to continue to exploit our country, compromising our national security. We call on the competent authorities to seek out and hold accountable the true perpetrators of this macabre crime, avoiding opportunistic exploitation and chaos,” the former head of state wrote on his Facebook page.

The Mozambican police confirmed to Lusa on Saturday that Elvino Dias, lawyer for Venâncio Mondlane, candidate for the 9 October presidential elections, and Paulo Guambe, leader of Podemos, the party that supports him, were shot dead in an “ambush” on Avenida Joaquim Chissano, in the centre of the capital.

“I met Paulo Guambe in 2020 when he came to my office with a group of students from ISARC [Higher Institute of Arts and Culture] to interview me as part of a documentary film about the literary work of Filimone Meigos. Paulo spoke to me about cinema, as a curricular subject, and about his professional projects in that area (…). I regret his brutal murder, as well as [the murder of] those who accompanied him on that fateful night,” Guebuza’s message recalls.

Armando Guebuza was in power in Mozambique from 2005 to 2015, and his predecessor, Joaquim Chissano, also reacted to the crime in recent hours.

“This act of brutal violence, which tarnishes the image of our country, is an attack on human life that is unacceptable and goes against the principles and values of dignity, respect and justice that we defend and that should sustain our society,” Joaquim Chissano says in a press release.

The note released by the Joaquim Chissano Foundation, of which the former President (6 November 1986 – 2 February 2005) is a patron, stresses that “this and other heinous crimes” contribute “to creating a feeling of insecurity and undermining the will to work for the well-being of Mozambicans”.

Chissano urges the authorities “to redouble their efforts” to clarify “as soon as possible” the crime, which he describes as “macabre”. The former head of state says that the process must result in the perpetrators being held legally accountable “with severe and dissuasive measures that help prevent future cases of violence, murders and kidnappings”.

“Peace, security, tranquillity and the guarantee of protection for all citizens are common values and assets that we must all preserve at all costs and at all times,” Chissano stresses.

Concluding the note of repudiation, Joaquim Chissano expresses his condolences to the families and friends of Elvino Dias and Paulo Guambe and reaffirms the Foundation’s commitment to “continue to promote and fight for a more just and safe society, where everyone can live in peace and security and without fear of violence of any kind”.

Source: Lusa