Mozambique: Podemos condemns silence on killings of Elvino Dias and Paulo Guambe

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Mozambique: Podemos condemns silence on killings of Elvino Dias and Paulo Guambe

5:14 CAT | 10 Oct 2025

Image: CESC

The Podemos party, leader of the Mozambican parliamentary opposition, on Friday criticised the silence and lack of clarification on the murder of supporters Elvino Dias and Paulo Guambe, almost a year ago, considering the justice system “slow, unfavourable and partisan”.

“Unfortunately, Mozambican justice is slow, unfair and partisan. If these people belonged to a certain privileged group, we would already have some solution and understanding of what happened. At least, we would have the people who did this behind bars, and we would be seeing investigations moving forward,” Optimistic People’s Party for the Development of Mozambique (Podemos) spokesman Duclésio Chico told Lusa.

Elvino Dias, known in Mozambique as the “people’s lawyer” for his social causes and support mainly to the most disadvantaged, died in an ambush on the night of 18 October 2024. Almost 12 months later, there is no police explanation of the crime, which has since been linked to political motives.

At the time he was murdered, Elvino Dias was the legal adviser to presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane. The car he was driving, in central Maputo, was intercepted by two vehicles. Armed men got out and fired dozens of bullets, killing both Elvino Dias, aged 45, and Paulo Guambe, the Podemos representative, whose party supported Mondlane’s candidacy in the general elections held on 9 October 2024.

The Podemos spokesperson told Lusa said that the party continues to fight for the Mozambican authorities to clarify the double murder, adding that it was time to depoliticise the state apparatus so that such investigations can take place.

“As a party, we demand that those responsible – the police, the justice system and the courts – do not stop investigating this heinous case, which created a stain on Mozambican politics. We therefore reject this one-year silence and lack of any explanation and demand that the authorities respond to this case and give us a solution,” Duclésio Chico said.

In addition to the double homicide, Podemos also wants clarification and accountability for the deaths that occurred during the post-election protests, saying that this is the only path to reconciliation and development.

“It has been considered a year of silence because no one has spoken about this matter. But we will revive it, because we will remember this pain, which has not healed even after a year. The families are still trying to find out who gave the orders. This cry that we have had for a year, and the silence of those who should be responding, will raise questions and we will seek to know the reason for the silence,” the Podemos spokesperson said.

As the anniversary passes, Podemos announced that it will hold a march, at a date and place yet to be announced, in honour of Elvino Dias and Paulo Guambe, describing them as heroes.

Podemos representatives will join the family of Paulo Guambe on 18 October, in Mozambique’s Inhambane province, where he was buried, for other tribute events. These will include the screening of films and the sharing of testimonies about the life and work of one of the first members of the party.

“The death squad took the life of a promising politician, who had already been working to improve the social life of the Mozambican people, especially in the area where he lived, with the aim of achieving a better Mozambique,” the Podemos spokesperson concluded.

Podemos, which had never before had a member of parliament and which allied itself with Venâncio Mondlane in these elections, became the largest opposition party in Mozambique with 43 seats, taking over a position previously held by Renamo since the first multiparty elections in 1994. Renamo dropped from 60 to 28 MPs.

The electoral platform Decide, a civil society organisation that monitors electoral processes, reported in April that at least 388 people had been killed and more than 800 shot over about five months of post-election protests. Ninety per cent of these deaths “were caused by live ammunition”.

Source: Lusa