At least 76 killed, 240 injured by gunfire in Mozambique election protests – NGO

MAPUTO, Mozambique

At least 76 people have died and another 240 were injured by gunfire in Mozambique during 41 days of demonstrations to contest the election results, the Mozambican non-governmental organisation (NGO) Plataforma Eleitoral Decide said on Monday.

According to the report released by the electoral monitoring platform, which includes data from 21 October to 1 December, there were also “more than 1,700 people injured from various causes” across the country in these demonstrations and an estimated “more than 3,000 arrests”.

Presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane today called for a new phase of electoral contestation lasting a week, starting on Wednesday, in “all the townships” of Mozambique, with a stoppage of traffic from 8am to 4pm.

“All the townships are busy,” said Venâncio Mondlane, who does not recognise the results announced from the general elections on 9 October, in a statement on his official Facebook account, calling for a new period of protest from 4 to 11 December.

“People are going to gather in the townships and on the main avenues that cross our townships – we don’t need to travel far – and put up our posters,” said Venâncio Mondlane.

As was the case from 27 to 29 November, the presidential candidate is calling for vehicles to stop moving from 8am to 3.30pm local time (two hours less in Lisbon), followed by 30 minutes for the anthems of Mozambique and Africa to be sung in the streets.

“We’re going to demonstrate non-stop, without rest. It’s going to be seven full days (…). All vehicles, everything that moves, will be stopped,” he insisted, asking motorists to stick protest posters on vehicles travelling until 8am and after 4pm.

In the same speech, in which he called for the closure of several official institutions, he also demanded that the tolls be ‘closed’ for the week and advised that flights to the country be suspended.

“Because we are organising our country, demonstrating at a national level, we would like them to suspend – it’s a recommendation, because we’re not going to have festivities [Christmas and New Year’s Eve], there are no happy festivities when a people are sad, murdered, imprisoned (…) – request that during this week flights to and from Mozambique be suspended,” said the candidate, also calling for a halt to all school activity.

The announcement by Mozambique’s National Electoral Commission (CNE) on 24 October of the results of the 9 October elections, in which it awarded victory to Daniel Chapo, supported by the Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo, the party in power since 1975) in the election for country’s president, with 70.67% of the vote, sparked popular protests, called by presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane and which have degenerated into violent clashes with the police.

According to the CNE, Mondlane came second with 20.32%, but the latter does not recognise the results, which still have to be validated and proclaimed by the Constitutional Council.