Opposition campaigning without campaign materials – Mozambique Elections

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Opposition campaigning without campaign materials – Mozambique Elections

5:25 CAT | 29 Aug 2024

FILE - CAPTION - Frelimo has many posters, while opposition parties are having difficulty obtaining financial and material resources [File photo: Alfredo Zuninga/AFP]

Frelimo has already covered the walls with posters of its presidential candidate, but opposition parties are lagging behind. Renamo and MDM in Inhambane have not yet received their election material. PODEMOS has not even started the hunt for votes.

The electoral campaign in Mozambique began last Saturday (24-08), but opposition political parties are having difficulty giving visibility to their symbols and candidates for the Presidency of the Republic.

Nelson Almeida, a delegate for the Democratic Movement of Mozambique (MDM) party in Inhambane, told DW that they have not yet received their campaign material because the container had been held up at the Port of Maputo.

“We’re waiting for the truck. It only loaded up today to bring the material to the northern zone,” the politician lamented.

The MDM is using material left over from the local elections, and does not have posters with the face of the candidate supported by the party in the race for the Presidency of the Republic, Lutero Simango.

‘The money took a long time to arrive’

Hélder Malaune, provincial secretary of the Optimist Party for the Development of Mozambique (PODEMOS) in Inhambane, explains to DW that, because of the delay in the arrival of the material, they are only expected to start campaigning this Friday, August 30.

“We are waiting for the material and logistics, which have not yet left the headquarters in Maputo,” he says.

Carlos Maela, provincial delegate of the Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo) in Inhambane, says that the problem is that the campaign funds provided by the Technical Secretariat for Electoral Administration (STAE) arrived late.

They have been campaigning on the streets with the little material they could find. “As it arrived late, and we still had to produce the material, we are using what they sent us in the first batch,” Maela reveals.

On the streets and avenues of the province’s cities and towns, the ruling Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (Frelimo) is the party with the greatest visibility.

For Almeu Chau, Frelimo first secretary in Maxixe, the campaign is going ahead without any difficulties in terms of material. The party is more focused on spreading the electoral manifesto.

“Frelimo is doing everything it can to ensure that the people of Bembe and other people in our district have better living conditions. What we need is patience,” he said during a campaign event.

Source: Deutsche Welle