Mozambique: Venâncio Mondlane considers his denial of entry into Angola a “public shame”

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Mozambique: Venâncio Mondlane considers his denial of entry into Angola a “public shame”

11:08 CAT | 17 Mar 2025

File photo: Screengrab / Venâncio Mondlane Facebook

Mozambican politician Venâncio Mondlane says his denial of entry into Angola on Thursday was a “public shame” and a violation of the law of that country, suggesting a possible lawsuit against the Angolan state.

“Something dangerous and negative for Angola’s image in Africa and in the world has been established here,” Mondlane said from Maputo in a live broadcast on his Facebook page.

The issue at hand is the detention, for several hours, at the 4 de Fevereiro International Airport of several international guests who travelled to Angola, including the former President of Botswana Ian Khama and the former President of Colombia Andrés Pastrana, in addition to Mondlane himself, who was later ordered to leave the country.

According to a UNITA source, the group was in Angola to participate in a conference on the future of democracy in Africa promoted by the Brenthurst Foundation. Mondlane said Angola’s immigration services claimed that their entry had been refused, without presenting the reason for the decision, as is customary in these types of situations.

“We were not even deported; there were no procedures within the law that met the requirements for us to be deported. That was an irregularity of the highest level. Nothing was done according to the law,” Mondlane declared. Mondlane suggests a possible lawsuit against the Angolan state on the grounds of it violating the protocols of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the African Union.

“March 13 should be considered the day of public shame in Angola,” added Mondlane, positing that the decision to detain the delegation came from the Angolan Ministry of the Interior, although the delegation was not officially informed. The Mozambican politician further stresses the ignominy of the incident occurring in the country that currently holds the presidency of the African Union.

“I recommend that UNITA, the delegation that was there and the alternative organisations of SADC and the African Union sue the Angolan state,” added Mondlane. The Attorney General’s Office (PGR) of Mozambique has opened proceedings against Mondlane, accusing the politician of inciting violence in the post-election demonstrations that have marked the country in recent months.

On Tuesday, Mondlane, who is leading the biggest challenge to the election results that the country has seen since the first multi-party elections (1994), was heard by the PGR about one of the eight cases in which he is targeted in the context of the post-election protests and social unrest in Mozambique.

The Public Prosecutor’s Office of Mozambique applied the measure of an identity and residence term to Venâncio Mondlane, who, during his live broadcast, said that he had informed the Public Prosecutor’s Office about his departure for Angola. Hours after the delegation was detained, former Presidents of Colombia Andrés Pastrana and Botswana Ian Khama were allowed to enter Angola, but the latter decided to leave the country following his “humiliation”.

“What happened today was a great shock to me. The last time I was in Luanda was at the invitation of the president himself, João Lourenço. (…) So what happened is something I never expected,” Ian Khama declared before informing the event organizers that he was leaving the country.

The conference, organized jointly with the Konrad Adenauer Foundation and the World Liberty Congress, was scheduled to take place in Benguela, from Friday to Sunday.

Source: Lusa