The US government has condemned the weekend murders of two Mozambique opposition figures by gunmen, ahead of protests against a disputed election result. Washington is urging “a swift and thorough investigation into the murders”.
The US is the largest bilateral donor to Mozambique, providing more than $560m (R9.85bn) in assistance annually, according to the US state department website. Washington joined the EU and Mozambique’s former colonial ruler, Portugal, in the condemnation and the call for an investigation into the murders of opposition lawyer Elvino Dias and opposition party official Paulo Guambe, after many rounds were fired at a car in which they were travelling on Friday.
“The US condemns the killings of lawyer Elvino Dias and Podemos parliamentary candidate Paulo Guambe in Mozambique,” the US state department said. “We join the calls made by all four of Mozambique’s national political parties in urging a swift and thorough investigation.”
Crowds gathered on Monday to protest against general election results on Maputo’s Joaquim Chissano Avenue, where three days before, the lawyer of independent presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane, Dias, and spokesperson for opposition party Podemos, Guambe, were shot dead by unidentified gunmen.
As the demonstration got under way, police dispersed the gathering with teargas, prompting disparate groups of protesters in the city’s working class suburbs of Maxaquene and Polana Caniço to erect burning barricades of tyres and debris in the roads.
Flags of the ruling party Frelimo were torn up and thrown onto the fires as cries of “power to the people” rang out over the streets.
Running clashes between demonstrators and police took place throughout the day, with several reported injuries.
One 20-year old man seen by Business Day was struck in the head with a teargas canister fired from a police armoured vehicle just a few metres away. He received treatment at a local health centre before being transferred to Maputo Central Hospital.
Teargas was fired indiscriminately from a police helicopter, which circulated at low altitude over the city, with many canisters landing in the yards of people’s homes. Crowds frequently confronted police by hurling rocks before retreating as police launched teargas, fired rubber bullets, and shot rounds of live ammunition from AK-47 assault rifles into the air.
Protests against the election results took place in other cities of Mozambique, including Beira, Nacala and Pemba, the capital of Cabo Delgado province where the government has been fighting an Islamic State-backed insurgency since 2017, but violence was mostly concentrated in Maputo.
Mondlane arrived at Joaquim Chissano Avenue shortly after police began scattering the demonstration. He told reporters police initially prevented him from leaving his home, but his statement was cut short as police fired another round of teargas, forcing him and assembled journalists to flee.
The official results of the presidential and legislative elections are due to be announced by Thursday, but tallies published so far give a major lead to Frelimo and its presidential candidate Daniel Chapo.
The election process has been marred by allegations of widespread irregularities. The EU’s election observation mission criticised the slow, disorganised count and said the voting register lacked credibility as the number of registered voters exceeded the total voting age population in many areas.
Mondlane, who ran as an independent with the support of the Podemos party, claimed he won in eight out of Mozambique’s 11 provinces in the presidential election based on result notices collected from 25,000 polling stations across the country, representing about 35% of the vote.
The murder of Dias and Guambe on Friday drew condemnations from the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Josep Borell, the EU’s foreign affairs chief. The embassies of the US, UK, Canada, Switzerland and Norway, issued a statement condemning the killings urging the “utmost restraint by all.”
Mondlane attended a vigil at the scene of the killings on Saturday and said of Monday’s demonstration that “if the police use violence, after that there will be an even greater force from the people.”
With Reuters
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