Mozambique: Social and political stability the priority of priorities – Chapo

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Mozambique: Social and political stability the priority of priorities – Chapo

2:11 CAT | 15 Jan 2025

Mozambique's new President Daniel Chapo (C) during his inauguration ceremony as Mozambique's fifth president at Independence Square in Maputo, Mozambique, 15 January 2025. [Photo: Luisa Nhantumbo/Lusa]

The new President of Mozambique, Daniel Chapo, today defended unity in the country in his inauguration speech in Maputo and said that “social and political stability is the priority of priorities”.

In his first speech as head of state of Mozambique, immediately after the inauguration ceremony, Daniel Chapo promised to be “not a distant president, but a son of the nation”, saying: “United, we are capable of overcoming obstacles and transforming difficulties into prosperity.”

Today’s inauguration ceremony, Capo said, “marks the beginning of a new phase of consolidation in the construction of a sovereign and prosperous nation”.

Chapo was sworn in today in Maputo as the fifth President of the Republic of Mozambique, the first to be born after the country’s independence, in a ceremony attended by around 2,500 guests and heads of state.

Current secretary-general of the Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo), Daniel Chapo was governor of the province of Inhambane when, in May 2024, he was chosen by the Central Committee to be the ruling party’s candidate to succeed Filipe Nyusi, who served two terms as President of the Republic.

On December 23, Daniel Chapo, 48, was proclaimed by the Constitutional Council as the winner of the presidential election, with 65.17% of the votes, in the general elections of October 9, which included legislative and provincial assembly elections, which Frelimo also won.

The election of Daniel Chapo has been contested on the streets since October, with supporters of Venâncio Mondlane, who claims victory despite, according to the CC, obtaining only 24% of the votes, demanding the “re-establishment of the electoral truth”, with barricades, looting and clashes with the police, who have fired shots in their attempt to quell the movement.

Clashes between the police and the protesters contesting the results of last year’s October 9 elections have already caused almost 300 deaths, with more than 500 people suffering gun-shot wounds, according to civil society organizations monitoring events.

Venâncio Mondlane has called for three days of strikes and demonstrations, starting on Monday (13-01), in protest at the inauguration of the deputies elected to the Assembly of the Republic and the inauguration of the new President of the Republic.

Source: Lusa