People vandalize structures and set fire to Frelimo district headquarters in southern Mozambique

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People vandalize structures and set fire to Frelimo district headquarters in southern Mozambique

11:50 CAT | 20 Feb 2025

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

Protesters in districts in southern Mozambique have since Monday blocked roads and set
fire to the headquarters of Frelimo, the ruling party, in the district of Chókwè, different
sources told Lusa yesterday.

The unrest began around 9:00 a.m. on Monday, in protest, above all, at the high cost of living, a resident of Chókwè in Gaza province told Lusa.

According to the source, the locals set fire to the guardhouse at the facilities of the Water
Supply Investment Fund (Fipag), the institution that manages the water supply systems,
vandalized the District Education Services and a bakery, and erected barricades on National
Road No. 1 (EN1), the country's main highway.

Another resident of the same district told Lusa that the riots continued on Tuesday, with the
vandalisation of vehicles belonging to an alleged supporter of former presidential candidate
Venâncio Mondlane, the leader of the challenge to the election results that the country has
been facing since October.

The incident led authorities to open fire in an attempt to dispel the protesters, the source
said, and around 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, protesters in Chókwé burned down the district
headquarters of the Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo, the ruling party) and returned
to vandalize and burn the offices of Fipag.

"They vandalized everything, ruined everything and burned all the papers that were in the offices," the source said.

Frelimo's Secretary for Mobilization of Social Organizations, Communication and Image in
Gaza, José Mabuta, confirmed to Lusa today the partial destruction of the party's district headquarters.

"On Tuesday morning, a group of people went to the party headquarters where they threw
stones, broke windows, broke down the door and burned some papers that they found
inside the premises.

"They tried to set fire to the headquarters but were unsuccessful," Mabuta said.
In Inhambane, another southern province, Frelimo mobilization secretary Essau Maela said
that demonstrations began on Tuesday, with some roads being blocked and stores being
vandalized and looted in protest at the high cost of living.

"The protesters are currently in the town of Homoine," said Essau Maela.
Lusa tried unsuccessfully to contact the Mozambican police for a comment on the incidents.
On Tuesday, the Mozambican government said that the government was implementing

measures to reduce the cost of living in the country, but these would be in vain if the
demonstrations and the destruction of infrastructure continued.

"As long as the demonstrations continue, even with the reduction in the cost of living, things will become even more difficult," said Inocêncio Impissa, spokesman for the Council of Ministers, after a cabinet meeting in Maputo.

Since October, at least 327 people have died, including around two dozen minors, and
around 750 have been shot during the protests, according to the electoral platform Decide,
a non-governmental organization that monitors electoral processes in Mozambique.

Smaller-scale protests are still taking place in different parts of the country with people, in addition to contesting the October 9 election results, protesting the rising cost of living and other social problems.

Source: Lusa