Mozambique: Opposition calls for Bishop Matsinhe to resign

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Mozambique: Opposition calls for Bishop Matsinhe to resign

5:41 CAT | 14 Nov 2023

File photo: Lusa

Renamo’s candidate for Maputo city led thousands of supporters to the door of the Anglican Church on Tuesday to demand the resignation of its bishop, Carlos Matsinhe, who is also president of the National Electoral Commission (CNE).

“A man of God who carries weapons inside the church? It’s time for him to take to the streets. It’s not enough for him to be expelled from the church. He should leave the CNE,” said Venâncio Mondlane from a truck cab on Avenida Rio Tembe, drawing applause from thousands of supporters who accompanied him today for another day of marching in protest against alleged “mega-fraud” in the 11 October elections.

Several organisations have demanded Matsinhe’s resignation from the CNE in the context of the opposition and various institutions contesting the results of the local elections announced by that body.

Also demanded is the removal of Carlos Matsinhe from his position as bishop of the Anglican Church of Mozambique and Angola (IAMA), an organisation that covers “the ecclesiastical province” of believers in these two countries, reads the call, made by the bishop himself and signed by the diocesan administrator of the Anglican Church in Mozambique, Elvis Lucas Gumete.

The Libombos diocese of the Anglican Church in Mozambique will be meeting today in Maputo with a single agenda item: to discuss Matsinhe’s demands for resignation.

“He’s a man of God who has become a man of the devil. After that, Matsinhe must be arrested. The floor of the jail awaits him,” added Venâncio Mondlane amid a crowd chanting, “Matsinhe, out”.

Mozambique’s sixth local elections took place in 65 municipalities on 11 October, including 12 new municipalities which went to the polls for the first time.

The Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo), the main opposition party, which in the previous 53 municipalities (12 new municipalities were created this year) was leading in eight, was left without any municipality, despite claiming victory in the country’s largest cities, based on the original minutes and notices of polling stations, having appealed to the Constitutional Commission, the last instance of appeal in the electoral process.

Some district courts have even recognised irregularities in the electoral process and ordered several elections to be repeated, while street demonstrations are regularly held to contest the results announced, which still have to be confirmed by the Constitutional Commission.

Source: Lusa