Mozambique: Voting conditions assured in Mocímboa da Praia – local authority

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Mozambique: Voting conditions assured in Mocímboa da Praia – local authority

9:57 CAT | 09 Oct 2023

FILE - For illustration purposes only. [File photo: Lusa]

The district administrator of Mocímboa da Praia, the scene six years ago of the first terrorist attack in Cabo Delgado, northern Mozambique, said on Friday that local conditions are in place for voting in the local elections on 11 October.

“In Mocímboa da Praia, without a doubt. The will of the residents will be expressed,” said Sérgio Domingos Cipriano, speaking to Lusa a few days before the sixth local elections.

That district was the first stage of the attacks, on 5 October 2017, by the armed groups that carry out incursions in Cabo Delgado. The town of Mocímboa da Praia was even used as rebel headquarters for just over a year until it was reclaimed in August 2021 by the joint action of Mozambican and Rwandan government forces.

In recent days, the same town has been taken over, but for the electoral campaign, with increased security, but without any incidents, the administrator said. “Without any problem, without any difficulty (…) We want an orderly behaviour, as it has been until now.”

The military intervention on the ground, which in August led to the death of several leaders of the terrorist group operating in Cabo Delgado, including the number one, Mozambican Bonomade Omar, meant the administrator of Mocímboa da Praia could guarantee that the “climate of peace is getting closer and closer” to Cabo Delgado.

“The terrorists’ leadership has been completely dismantled. There may be some resistance, with less force (…) they are desperate at the moment,” added Sérgio Domingos Cipriano, in an allusion to the attacks that have continued to be claimed by the Islamic State on isolated villages in Mocímboa da Praia since August, including against military personnel this week.

Although these are small attacks, some in “revenge” for the death of the terrorist group’s leader, Sérgio Domingos Cipriano, acknowledged that some remote populations have preferred to take refuge in the village in recent weeks but that they also now want to return to their places of origin.

“What we’re asking for is for the weapons to be handed over to the police, for them [insurgents] to return, for us to welcome them back into the communities, into society,” he appealed.

In Mocímboa da Praia, 30,438 voters are registered to vote in the 11 October local elections, according to data from the National Electoral Commission (CNE), spread over six locations and 45 polling stations.

Running in that town are Paulo Weng San, who leads the list of the Association of Mocímboa da Praia Natives, Friends and Sympathisers (Umoja), Helena Bandeira, for the Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo), Saide Sulia, for the Mozambique Democratic Movement (MDM), and Selemane Omar, for the Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo).

The province of Cabo Delgado has been facing an armed insurgency for six years, with some attacks claimed by the extremist group Islamic State.

The insurgency has led to a military response since July 2021 with support from Rwanda and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), liberating districts near gas projects.

The conflict has already displaced one million people, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and caused around 4,000 deaths, according to the ACLED conflict registration project.

More than 11,500 candidates from 11 political parties, three coalitions of parties and eight citizens’ groups are campaigning until Sunday for the sixth Mozambican local elections on 11 October, amid calls for a peaceful process.

More than 8.7 million Mozambican voters are registered to vote across the country in the sixth local elections, according to previous CNE figures.

Source: Lusa