Mozambique: Nyusi calls for greater surveillance in Mocimboa da Praia on election day

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

Mozambique: Nyusi calls for greater surveillance in Mocimboa da Praia on election day

7:56 CAT | 10 Oct 2023

Photo: Presidente Filipe Nyusi/Facebook

President Filipe Nyusi this Monday called for heightened vigilance in Mocimboa da Praia on election day, Wednesday, saying that the process should not open space for a new terrorist attack in the district.

“This must be the moment of greatest vigilance so that we remain increasingly united so that Mocimboa da Praia can exercise its right and, without fear, can define its development path,” President Nyusi said during the inauguration of Mocimboa da Praia’s rehabilitated port and airfield in Cabo Delgado, northern Mozambique.

The district of Mocimboa da Praia is a “very sensitive bastion”, whose recovery cost people’s blood, the head of state continued, urging that voting day be a celebration and take place in an orderly, peaceful manner.

“We don’t want bases created here to give arguments for the terrorists to invade again (…) We don’t want to experience uncertainty here,” Nyusi said.

The president highlighted that the district was one of the worst affected by armed attacks, reiterating, therefore, that the region needs a lot of support.

“We must increase vigilance and always be alert to false promises promoted by terrorists,” he warned.

In Mocimboa da Praia, 30,438 voters distributed across six locations and 45 polling stations are registered to vote in the local elections on October 11th, according to the National Elections Commission (CNE).

Competing in that municipality are Paulo Weng San, who leads the list of the Association of Natives, Friends and Sympathisers of Mocimboa da Praia (Umoja), Helena Bandeira, for the Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo), Saide Sulia, for the Mozambique Democratic Movement (MDM ), and Selemane Omar, for the Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo).

READ: Mozambique: Voting conditions assured in Mocímboa da Praia – local authority

The province of Cabo Delgado has been facing armed insurgency for six years, with some attacks claimed by the extremist group Islamic State.

On the ground, combating terrorism – in attacks that have been taking place since October 2017 and which affect the advancement of natural gas production projects in the region – are the Armed Defence Forces of Mozambique, since July 2021 with support from Rwanda and the Community to Southern African Development (SADC).

The conflict in northern Mozambique has already displaced one million people, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and around 4,000 deaths, according to the ACLED conflict registration project, while the Mozambican President admitted recently “more than 2,000” fatalities.

More than 11,500 candidates from 11 political parties, three party coalitions and eight groups of citizens are campaigning until Sunday for the sixth Mozambican municipal elections on October 11, amid calls for a peaceful process.

More than 8.7 million Mozambican voters are registered to vote across the country in the sixth local elections, according to previous data from the CNE.

Source: Lusa