Mozambique: Post-election protests caused ‘feeling of terror’ – defence minister

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Mozambique: Post-election protests caused ‘feeling of terror’ – defence minister

9:06 CAT | 05 Feb 2025

Defence minister Cristóvão Cume was speaking on Wednesday during the swearing-in ceremony of João Carlos Pires as the new director of the Centre for Strategic Analysis of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CAE/CPLP), in Maputo. [Photo: Ministério da Defesa Nacional - Moçambique]

Mozambique’s defence minister said on Wednesday that the post-election protests have caused a “feeling of terror” in Mozambique, considering that the country has experienced a “state of chaos”.

“The street actions that the country has experienced and the world has witnessed have created a feeling of terror. Families and communities have experienced unfortunate moments of receiving live news of the death of their loved ones as a result of the state of chaos imposed in an attempt to reduce the authority of the state to almost nothing,” said Cristóvão Chume.

The Mozambican defence minister was speaking during the swearing-in ceremony of João Carlos Pires as the new director of the Centre for Strategic Analysis of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CAE/CPLP), in Maputo, Mozambique’s capital.

Since 21 October, Mozambique has been experiencing a climate of strong social unrest, protests, demonstrations and stoppages, called by former presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane, with violent clashes between the police and demonstrators, which have caused at least 327 deaths.

According to Mozambique’s defence minister, the demonstrations have caused incalculable damage to Mozambique and other countries in the region, and he therefore advocates far-reaching reforms in defence and security policy to keep up with the “meteoric development” of society.

For Cristóvão Chume, the violence that has taken place in the country since October could open up space in the future for the “decapitation of national order” and the expansion of terrorism in the country, which has been plaguing Cabo Delgado, a province in northern Mozambique, since October 2017.

“We as a society and as a state were not prepared for anything we have experienced. The defence and security forces were called upon to respond to this situation of an almost ‘state of siege’ imposed through social media, where defiance of the law, impunity and the burning of individual and collective dignity was a daily occurrence,” said the minister.

He also called on the CAE/CPLP to study the best way to prevent, contain and combat “street and social media violence” resulting from political events, considering that this is not a new scenario in the community.

“Today there is no doubt that we are very exposed to popular scrutiny. However, the discourse of me and them should not prevail when it comes to collective security,” added Chume.

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At least 327 people have died, including around two dozen minors, and around 750 people have been shot during the protests in Mozambique, according to the electoral platform Decide, a non-governmental organisation that monitors electoral processes.

Source: Lusa