by Palmira Velasco
From Wednesday 13th, Mozambique recorded the fourth phase of demonstrations against the presidential election results held on October 9th of the current year. After three phases of demonstrations that saw Mozambican citizens coming from all 11 provinces of the country to the capital Maputo for the mega-demonstration, the first stage of the fourth phase of demonstrations, called by the opposition candidate for the presidential elections, Venâncio Mondlane, has been taking place.
Venâncio Mondlane, candidate for the Podemos party, called on the night of November 12th for a three-day general demonstration to paralyze all economic activities in the country. The demonstration focuses on three points, namely the closing of borders, paralysis of ports with an impact on the corridors of Nacala (in the north of the country that connects to Malawi), Beira (in the center that connects to Zimbabwe) and Maputo (in the south which supplies South Africa) as well as the demonstration in all the capital cities of the country’s 11 provinces.
Traffic was paralyzed across the country, according to the request of the leader of the demonstrations, Venâncio Mondlane. The borders of Machipanda in Manica Province and Ressano Garcia in Maputo Province as well as the ports of Nacala, Beira and Maputo were inoperative. Rail transport was also partially operational. The trucks were lined up in a queue of more than 10 kilometers at the Ressano Garcia border, while in the city of Beira, truck drivers have remained in a long queue without service since yesterday. Customs officials were on duty, but remained outside the premises without working.
Meanwhile, the struggle continues between the united opposition made up of the parties (PODEMOS, RENAMO and CAD) and the Frelimo party in power since national independence in 1975.
On Tuesday night, after the call for strike by Venâncio Mondlane, via social media, the General Commander of the Police of the Republic of Mozambique, Bernardino Rafael, in a Press Conference, appealed to citizens to give up the demonstrations. He asked all Mozambicans to go to work, as the country’s economy has lost millions of dollars since the demonstrations began with greater intensity on November 7th. Academics, jurists, commentators, civil society, formal and informal sectors converge on the issue of the need to find a solution and put an end to this political crisis that affects the country and that takes the lives of defenseless citizens.
All voices condemn the excessive use of police and military force to suppress demonstrations whose justification is the same as stray bullets. Police and military agents have caused more than a hundred deaths since the demonstrations began. Academics and commentators share the same opinion that the demonstrations are the result of dissatisfaction and the accumulation of repression against the people perpetrated by the party in power. The lack of freedom of expression at all levels and the impediment to demonstrations combined with the lack of debate and dialogue between the government and the people constituted a keg of gunpowder that only needed electoral fraud as a matchstick to set the country on fire.
The high cost of living, unemployment, the postponement of the implementation of the Single Salary Table (TSU), exacerbated corruption at the highest political level, drug trafficking, kidnapping of businessmen and the Cabo Delgado war are some of the problems that make the Mozambican people sad. According to what the protesters say, they simply demand changes in the way the country is led by a group of people from the Frelimo party who constitute a bourgeois class who hold the greatest wealth in the country and lead the country and the people as they see fit.
The Police of the Republic of Mozambique – PRM prevented a crowd from demonstrating in the City of Quelimane, Province of Zambézia, claiming that the protesters were not authorized by the competent structures. The crowd went on foot to Quelimane airport to welcome the mayor, Manuel de Araújo, who was returning from a trip. The mayor, along with the crowd, decided to walk on foot when he was stopped by the police who prevented him from continuing his walk. The population became angry and clashes with the police began.
In the district of Inhassunge, the president of the District Elections Commission was killed by a group of protesters angry at the fact that their leader had been handcuffed and arrested. Protesters began visiting police and military homes to retaliate for the deaths of citizens by police. In the city of Nampula, police tried to stop protesters using tear gas. The PRM Provincial Commander ordered the police to open fire on the defenseless protesters. However, the police entered the Namicopo neighborhood and fired indiscriminately at the residences, killing seven people and wounding nine.
Meanwhile, videos are circulating on social media of police officers and military personnel requesting defiance of superior orders to shoot at citizens. Some videos show police officers talking and playing football with protesters. The former President of the National Elections Commission, Dr. Brazão Mazula, said yesterday, on the television program, Grande Entrevista, that there is a need for Mozambique to separate the judicial power from political parties as a way of putting an end to cyclical electoral problems.
“I suggest that the CNE be made up, mainly, of judges and the Bar Association. But he said it is necessary that there is no interference from the President of the Republic nor from the party in power, Frelimo”.