Mozambique: Podemos member shot dead in Búzi, Sofala province

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Mozambique: Podemos member shot dead in Búzi, Sofala province

9:22 CAT | 17 Jan 2025

Image via Nádio Jaime Taimo/Facebook

A member of the Podemos party in the district of Buzi, central Mozambique, was shot dead at dawn on Thursday by a group of unknown men, said a source from the largest opposition party in parliament.

“He sent me a message at around 1 a.m. saying that the house was surrounded. After the message I couldn’t speak to him any more. But as soon as dawn broke, the survivor who was with him, who had also been shot in the arm, called me to say he was shot dead,” described Vale Magalhães, district representative of the Optimist Party for the Development of Mozambique (Podemos).

The victim, Sandes António, 30, was found dead in his home, shot three times in the head, chest and back, said the politician, who blamed the police for the crime.

According to Vale Magalhães, before his murder, the victim reported by telephone that the police had surrounded his home.

However, the spokesman for the Republic of Mozambique Police (PRM) in Sofala province, Dércio Chacate, said they were still gathering local information about the crime.

“We’re on the ground working on the matter and will make a statement at some point,” he said.

This is the third case of Podemos members being fatally shot since the post 9 October general election protests began in Mozambique, in which around 310 people have died and more than 600 have been shot, according to data from the electoral platform Decide.

Until now, extra-parliamentary, Podemos has become the largest opposition party represented in parliament, with 43 seats, after supporting the presidential candidacy of Venâncio Mondlane, who, meanwhile, does not recognise the results of the general elections.

However, the two parties broke up following the party’s decision to take part in the inauguration of the elected MPs on Monday, unlike the other opposition parties, the Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo) and the Mozambique Democratic Movement (MDM).

Source: Lusa