The country wakes up in suspense: Who will lead Mozambique?

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The country wakes up in suspense: Who will lead Mozambique?

2:45 CAT | 10 Oct 2024

Image: DW

After an election day marked by reports of some irregularities and incidents, Mozambique anxiously awaits the revelation of who will be its next leader. The fate of the country is about to be decided.

Mozambicans are waiting expectantly for the results of the general elections held yesterday (09-10), a day that should have been marked only by the election of the new President of the Republic and of National Assembly deputies, but which also brought to light a series of incidents and reports of irregularities.

One of the most serious incidents occurred in Maputo, where a citizen was shot while approaching a suspicious vehicle parked next to a polling station at Kamubukuwana secondary school. The largest opposition party, Renamo, claims that the vehicle was transporting suspicious material possibly related to electoral fraud.

Renamo spokesperson Marcial Macome described the incident as “very serious”, revealing that the citizen who was shot is hospitalized. “The situation in Maputo was very tense,” Macome told STV, a private TV channel. The Mozambican police have not yet commented on the incident.

In addition to this incident, other allegations of irregularities and attempted fraud were reported in provinces across the country.

Chimoio, Beira and Quelimane: Diverse allegations

In the capital of Manica province, Chimoio, the electoral process took place without any major incident, although the fight for votes was very tight, especially between candidates Daniel Chapo and Venâncio Mondlane. The electoral authorities did not report any illegalities, in contrast with reports from other regions of the country.

In the city of Beira, capital of Sofala province, the elections were marked tensions when observers and members of opposition parties were removed from polling stations during the counting. One of the most serious cases involved a polling station chairwoman who was beaten while trying to insert fraudulent ballot papers into the ballot boxes.

In Quelimane, Zambézia province, two ballot boxes with pre-marked ballot papers were seized in Luabo, and two citizens arrested while trying to swap the ballot boxes. Although the atmosphere in the city remained calm, these attempts at fraud raised serious concerns about the integrity of the process.

Gaza: Strong turnout, but with complaints

In Gaza province, more than a million voters were called to vote, and the process largely ran smoothly. However, opposition candidates, such as Agnaldo Navalha of the MDM and Félix Tivane of Renamo, denounced the exclusion of members of their parties from polling stations and alleged cases of soliciting of delegates.

“It was a vote with a strong turnout of voters, but the organization fell short of expectations. Many of our members were excluded, which tarnished the process,” said Navalha, head of the MDM list. Tivane reinforced the complaints, adding that some Renamo delegates were threatened with arrest.

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Voting in the diaspora

Mozambicans in the diaspora also participated in the elections, with polling stations in Portugal and Germany. In Portugal, where most Mozambicans registered in Europe live, the vote was peaceful, but not without complaints. Some voters complained that they were unable to vote because their names were not on the electoral roll. Others expressed indignation at the absence of the Podemos party on the list of parties running for the election of deputies to the National Assembly.

David Machava, a Mozambican voter in Lisbon, expressed his frustration to DW. “We are outraged because the Podemos party does not appear on the ballot paper. No one has explained to us why it is absent, which clearly harms the party and its voters,” he said.

In turn, Pedro Fernandes, president of the Organization of the Mozambican Diaspora (ODM), criticised the limited capacity to register and vote outside Portugal and Germany. “There are many of us, spread across countries such as England, France, Luxembourg and others. It is not fair that our right to vote is restricted to just two countries. We have been warning the government about this problem for years,” said Fernandes, who travelled from Luxembourg to vote.

Voting closed at 9:00 p.m. in Lisbon, with Mozambique’s Ambassador to Portugal, Stella Novo Zeca, appealing to voters for civic-mindedness. “Voting is an exercise in sovereignty,” she said, highlighting the importance of the election for the future of the country.

After the polls closed, vote-counting began, and the results should be sent to the National Electoral Commission in Mozambique within a few hours of the count being completed.

Expectations grow throughout the country

The electoral process in Mozambique has been monitored by more than 12,000 national and international observers, who highlighted various irregularities in different parts of the country.

Sala da Paz, an electoral observation platform, reported that the start of the count had seen some logistical challenges, such as power outages in some polling stations, but considered the process satisfactory overall.

The National Electoral Commission (CNE) has up to 15 days to announce the final results, but the first preliminary data is already being collected in several provinces. The expectation is that, if there is no call for a second round, Mozambique’s new president will be announced within this period.

Source: Deutsche Welle