"I am the real Mozambique President" - Mondlane

MAPUTO, Mozambique

Former Mozambican presidential candidate Venancio Mondlane on Wednesday claimed that he is the legitimate head of state, and not Daniel Chapo, the general secretary of the ruling Frelimo Party, who was sworn into office earlier in the day.

In a live broadcast transmitted on his Facebook page, Mondlane described himself as “the President elected by the people”.

He accused Chapo of plagiarising his election manifesto, claiming that “95 per cent” of the measures announced in Chapo’s inaugural speech “were what I advocated during the election campaign. He’s a good pupil”.

Mondlane says he swore himself into office at Maputo International Airport a week ago, when he returned to the country after two months abroad, although nobody else takes this claim seriously.

He insists that he won the 9 October presidential election but has never produced the polling station results sheets (“editais”) that could prove his victory. Indeed, neither Frelimo nor Mondlane has shown the public the evidence backing their competing claims.

The Constitutional Council, the country’s highest body in matters of electoral law, also failed to produce the crucial documentation from the polling stations – and even admitted that the results were riddled with “irregularities”.

It claimed that this made no difference to the final result, but in the same ruling admitted that it had adjusted the figures it received from the National Elections Commission (CNE) in order to avoid a recount.

A recount may now prove impossible, since the CNE is pushing ahead with the destruction on Friday of all the electoral materials – including the votes cast in October.

Mondlane also announced that on Friday he will announce “governance measures for the first 100 days of his term of office”. But, unless he works with Chapo, he will have no way of implementing these measures.