Threats to correspondents; Frelimo using government cars – CIP Mozambique Elections

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Threats to correspondents; Frelimo using government cars – CIP Mozambique Elections

8:49 CAT | 27 Aug 2024

Image: CIP

Clear threat: CIP correspondent detained by UIR, accused of being terrorist, and forced to delete photos

Members of the Riot Police (Rapid Intervention Unit, UIR) detained for some time a CIP observer who was covering the election campaign, who showed a credential issued by the election bodies in Cabo Delgado province.

According to the observer, he was photographing posters at the Quissanga-Sede Secondary School, because the law prohibits posters at schools. Members of the UIR stationed to guarantee security during the elections detained him, alleging he was a member of the “terrorists” active in Cabo Delgado. Intervention by his family was necessary to release him. The observer was forced to delete all his photographs, which made it clear that the intention was to intimidate him.

A CIP correspondent was threatened by members of Frelimo in Dondo, Sofala. They wanted to take him by force to their office. He had to seek the intervention of a colleague to be released. They wrote down his phone number and promised to ring him, but did not say what they wanted to talk to him about.

Still no date for Ossufo Momade to start his campaign

Renamo head Ossufo Momade is the only presidential candidate who has not yet begun his election campaign. The CIP Eleições Bulletin has discovered that Momade is outside Mozambique on “last minute business that could not be delayed”. It is predicted but not confirmed that he will return tomorrow (Wednesday 28 August) and start his campaign on Thursday or Friday.

The Renamo head and presidential candidate was not even present at the launch of his party’s campaign, in Quelimane, Zambézia . He was represented by the Renamo General Secretary, Clementina Bomba.

Opposition campaigns have not yet begun in many places. Renamo, like the MDM and other opposition parties, is facing serious logistical problems, in part due to the very late handover of government funds for parties. Frelimo, the party which has controlled the state and its resources for 49 years, is the only party which is in full campaign mode.

Teachers abandon classes and children join the campaign

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In the Magude Secondary School, in Magude district, Maputo province, several teachers abandoned their classes on Monday morning (26 August) in order to attend marches held by Frelimo. The photo shows children joining the Frelimo election campaign.

Stolen vehicles not checked in Chókwè

In Chókwè, Gaza, traffickers in stolen cars from South Africa appear to be using the campaign to allow these vehicles to circulate with number plates and other identification covered by Frelimo posters. Traffickers of stolen vehicles are using the trick of eliminating any signs of identification, by putting Frelimo propaganda material over the number plates. Several such vehicles are circulating in Chókwè city, and can pass through police checkpoints without inspection, but they are being smuggled. One is shown below:

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State cars in the Frelimo campaign

The electoral law explicitly bans the use of state vehicles in the electoral campaign, but this campaign has already seen an increase in the illicit use of government cars by Frelimo. The photos below from Inhambane city show Frelimo using Municipal Assembly cars to carry posters and food. The upper photo shows an older car with a red licence plate. State cars used to have red licence plates, but this was discontinued after it was used to identify state cars in previous elections.

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Two State vehicles being used in the Frelimo election campaign in Cabo Delgado (Metuge and Muidumbe):

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The car below is used by the Zavala Permanent Secretary, in Inhambane, for the Frelimo campaign. It is shown at the Frelimo office, driven there by the Secretary himself, dressed in Frelimo clothing.

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The building in Murrupula, Nampula, shown below is registered as “State Property 272103-012” is accommodating Frelimo members involved in the campaign.

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In Mutarara district, Tete, two new, state-owned Toyota vehicles are being used to transport “the chiefs” in the Frelimo election campaign.

In Machanga, Sofala, Frelimo is using state-owned Honda XL and Himalaya motor-cycles for its campaign. It is also using a car from the education directorate to transport sound equipment for the election campaign.

In Metuge, Cabo Delgado, the protocol vehicle of the district administrator is used by its driver to ferry Frelimo supporters to the election campaign. This vehicle has number plate AJG 290 MP.

In Muatide, Muidumbe, Cabo Delgado, a state-owned Mahindra D4D vehicle is being used by the permanent secretary for the election campaign.

Violence continues in Nampula

The Mozambican police in Nampula said on Monday (26 August) that, during the first two days of the election campaign, two cases were registered, one of the destruction of propaganda material in Nampula city, and one of a clash between Frelimo and Renamo motorcades in Mecuburi district, which resulted in the injury of some Frelimo members.

The police did not mention the incident in the early morning of the first day of the campaign, in Nacala-à-Velha, which resulted in injuries among members of Frelimo and of the MDM. But the police in Nacala-a-Velha summoned the political delegates of the MDM and Renamo, the district first secretary of Frelimo and the district administrator to a meeting.

Injuries in Tambara, Manica. One person was seriously injured and another fainted as a result of a clash between members and sympathisers of Renamo and Frelimo, in Tambara, Manica. The motive for the clash was the destruction of campaign posters by members of the two parties.

Source: Centro de Integridade Pública CIP Eleições