Mozambique: Thinking differently is good but violence must be avoided – president

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Mozambique: Thinking differently is good but violence must be avoided – president

6:55 CAT | 25 Mar 2025

Photo: Conselho Executivo Provincial do Niassa

Mozambican president Daniel Chapo said on Monday that “thinking differently is a good thing”, but that disagreements cannot be resolved with violence, a position he adopted a few hours after meeting former presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane.

“You can’t develop a country with violence, because violence begets violence. You don’t develop a country with hatred, because hatred breeds hatred. You can’t develop a country with evil, because evil begets evil. To develop Mozambique there has to be love between your brothers,” said Daniel Chapo, addressing the public in Lichinga, in Niassa Province.

“Thinking differently is good, because even twins born on the same day don’t think in the same way,” he said, adding: “When we have concerns and we have disagreements, nobody can take justice into their own hands, there are institutions.”

Chapo insisted that it is “necessary to put an end to the destruction and violence”, which is causing “death”, and thereby “re-establish peace” in Mozambique.

For more than five months, Mozambique has been experiencing intense social unrest following the general elections on 9 October, in which more than 360 people have died in demonstrations, stoppages, roadblocks, looting and destruction of public and private property, protests called by Venâncio Mondlane, who does not recognise the announced results of the vote and the victory of Daniel Chapo.

“Love must reign among us Mozambicans, forgiveness must reign, reconciliation must reign. Because that’s the only way we can build a better Mozambique,” Chapo argued, but without referring directly to the first meeting he had with Venâncio Mondlane on Sunday night.

In the capital of Niassa, the President also said that it is “necessary to put an end” to the “confusion” that usually follows elections in Mozambique: “We have decided that this time we will sit down (…) If the problem is with the electoral law we will sit down, if it needs to be rectified, we will rectify it, so that we don’t have any more problems.”

He also promised to ” discuss everything” in the current process of pacifying the country, including governance, so that in the next elections “there will be no reason” to “make a mess”.

The President of Mozambique met this Sunday with Venâncio Mondlane to “discuss solutions to the challenges facing the whole country,” the presidency office announced in the early hours of the morning, and the former presidential candidate justified the meeting as a way of seeking a “national solution” to the country’s needs.

“In search of a national solution to the public’s cry for help in relation to the situation of extreme insecurity in which the country found itself, we held a meeting with the head of government, Daniel Francisco Chapo (…) to start a mutual process to respond to the appeals and desires of the Mozambican people,” Mondlane wrote on his official Facebook page.

In a statement, the Presidency explained that the meeting was “part of the ongoing effort to promote national stability and strengthen the commitment to reconciliation and unity among Mozambicans”.

“Resolving the post-election crisis and strengthening the democratic state are priority goals to ensure a fairer and more inclusive country. The president’s gesture of dialogue with Venâncio Mondlane symbolises his willingness to build bridges and promote open and constructive dialogue. The willingness to discuss common solutions also represents a significant step forward in the search for a peaceful Mozambique, united and committed to collective progress,” the statement added.

The meeting took place a few weeks after the signing, in Maputo on 5 March, of the Political Commitment for an Inclusive National Dialogue between the President and nine political groupings that “participated in the political dialogue sessions held so far”, the Presidency recalls.

Source: Lusa