Mozambique: Mondlane wants his day in court, immunity as State Counsellor lifted

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Mozambique: Mondlane wants his day in court, immunity as State Counsellor lifted

4:31 CAT | 20 Oct 2025

File photo: Lusa

Former Mozambican presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane wants to see his immunity as a State Counsellor lifted so that he can be tried for the post-election demonstrations, and believes that at that time of widespread protest in the country, it would have been possible to come to power by force.

“Yes, it was possible to seize power by force. All the conditions were in place to do so. Practically the entire police operational structure was disorganized, and, as I’ve said, it was ineffective, and they no longer had the repressive capacity they needed to carry out immediately after the vote,” Venâncio Mondlane stated in an interview with Lusa.

The politician never acknowledged the results of the general elections of October 9, 2024, which were followed, after the 21st of the same month – the day he left the country citing security concerns – by more than five months of demonstrations, protests, and intense social unrest throughout the country, with 400 deaths recorded. For having called for the protests, he is now accused of several crimes, including terrorism.

“My choice, when I decided to return to the country in January, was precisely to avoid coming to power through some kind of violent popular movement. Because those who come to power by force – as a Christian, I know very well that from a biblical perspective, this is prophetic – that those who come to power by force are also removed by force. So I could not in any way accept this possibility of coming to power by force,” he says.

On 23 December 2024, two-and-a-half months after the 9 October general elections, the Constitutional Council declared Daniel Chapo the winner of the presidential election, with 65.17% of the votes, followed by Venâncio Mondlane, who received 24%, but has never acknowledged the results.

However, as provided for in the Constitution, as the second most-voted-for presidential candidate, Venâncio Mondlane assumed his seat on the Council of State on September 1, which grants immunity to its members but can be waived by the council itself.

When questioned, the politician said he was “fully available” to have his immunity waived and to “go to court”.

“I am completely calm about this matter, not only from a technical and legal perspective, but also from the perspective of my morals and my faith. Therefore, I will not shy away from […] an opportunity to go to court regarding a cause that I know is noble, and in the highest interests of the people,” he states.

In July, the politician was charged by the Mozambican Public Prosecutor’s Office with five crimes related to the post-election protests, including incitement to collective disobedience and incitement to terrorism, which he denies.

“If that is the court’s understanding, to notify us for the trial, I am completely open and available to attend that trial. And I also think it would be a great opportunity, both for me and for Mozambican society itself, to clarify the issue of the so-called post-election violence. Was it post-election violence? Or was it, to some extent, a kind of frustrated genocide of the people themselves,” he asks.

The Public Prosecutor’s Office charges Venâncio Mondlane with “material and moral authorship, in a real concurrence of offenses”, the crimes of public apology for crime, incitement to collective disobedience, public instigation of a crime, instigation of terrorism, and incitement to terrorism. However, the trial has not yet been scheduled and must be held in the Supreme Court, as he is a State Counsellor.

Venâncio Mondlane founded and now leads the Anamola party, officially launched at the end of September, and has already expressed his willingness to run for President of the Republic again in the 2029 elections, although any court proceedings could jeopardize that intention.

“This is the starting point of our opponents’ strategy, but there’s still a long way to go, and there’s also a counterattack strategy on our part, which I won’t disclose. Therefore, there’s no guarantee that this expectation, this prognosis, this tactic, will work. There are many elements, many unexpected variables that could happen and change this very expectation,” he reasons.

Daniel Chapo and Venâncio Mondlane met in Maputo for the first time since the elections on March 23, and the following day, the former presidential candidate called for an end to the violence. There have been no reported cases of social unrest associated with the electoral protests since then.

Source: Lusa