Mozambique: Mondlane asks for international support at Oslo meeting – Watch

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Mozambique: Mondlane asks for international support at Oslo meeting – Watch

4:27 CAT | 27 May 2025

Screen grab: Oslo Freedom Forum (OFF)

Mozambique’s former presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane called on Tuesday, during the Oslo Freedom Forum, for international support for the Anamalala party, a political force he founded and which is awaiting legalisation in the Mozambican courts.

“Mozambique needs your help (…) We will need your help for this party because, until now, it is the only voice in Mozambique that still resists an oppressive regime that has taken everything,” said Venâncio Mondlane during his presentation at the Oslo Freedom Forum (OFF), which is taking place in the Norwegian capital.

Mondlane, who led the biggest challenge to the election results in Mozambique since the first multi-party elections (1994), moved forward with the formation of the National Alliance for a Free and Autonomous Mozambique (Anamalala) on 3 April this year, according to a request submitted to the Ministry of Justice in Maputo by his advisor.

Anamalala is an expression in the local Macua language of Nampula province in northern Mozambique, meaning “it will end” or “it is over”, used by former presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane during his election campaign and which also became popular during the protests he called.

“Anamalala, in my country, is a word of hope,” Mondlane said.

In his presentation, the former presidential candidate recalled that he was once a member of the Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo), but dissociated himself after realising that the party in power in Mozambique since independence (1975) had become a “criminal organisation”.

“My father was president of one of the country’s leading insurance companies. I saw Frelimo as something pure and immaculate (…) But I saw that this party destroyed my country and became a real criminal organisation. I was disappointed,” Mondlane said.

The politician again accused the Mozambican authorities of resorting to brutality to stop the post-election protests, highlighting the deaths of almost 400 people during the demonstrations, including his lawyer, Elvino Dias, who unknown assailants killed on 19 October last year.

“Our country is in mourning,” Mondlane added.

Since October, Mozambique has been experiencing severe social unrest, with demonstrations and strikes called by Venâncio Mondlane, who rejects the election results of 9 October that gave victory to Daniel Chapo.

According to non-governmental organisations monitoring the process, around 400 people lost their lives as a result of clashes with the police, which ceased after the meeting between Venâncio Mondlane and Daniel Chapo on 23 March.

Mondlane was among the main speakers at the Oslo Freedom Forum (OFF), alongside names such as Russian opposition figure Vladimir Kara-Murza, a political prisoner released in 2024, and Pavel Durov, founder and CEO of Telegram, who is under investigation for complicity in criminal activities and participated virtually after the French courts rejected his request to travel to Oslo.

The Oslo Freedom Forum is organised by the Human Rights Foundation (HRF).

Founded in 2009, the OFF is held annually to bring together figures including former heads of state, Nobel Peace Prize laureates, political prisoners and other personalities to debate ideas on human rights and expose dictatorships.