Mozambique election dispute: Borders reopen as protests subside amid wait for feedback

By News24

BORDER posts were reopened yesterday, and protests in Mozambique have subsided for now as the country’s people await feedback after apparent tampering with election results.

Chaos reigned in Maputo and other cities over the past week, with thousands of opposition supporters taking to the streets to express their dissatisfaction after Frelimo’s Daniel Chapo allegedly received 71% of the votes in October’s election.

However, this calm hangs in the balance and hinges on the much-anticipated pronouncement from opposition leader Venâncio Mondlane, who sparked the protests by proclaiming that he had won the elections and that the polls had been rigged.

The unrest subsided hours after Mondlane announced on Friday that he would make a pronouncement on the next step tomorrow.

According to veteran Mozambican journalist Fernando Goncalves Andre, there were no protesters on the streets yesterday, but he said it was not clear if this peace would last.

They have stopped for now. [Mondlane] has said he is going to speak on Monday to update his followers on what would be the next step. He is one of the candidates, not a leader of any party, and supported by Podemos. He called for seven days of protests, which culminated on Thursday and now it has subsided; they have stopped.

He said he could not, however, pre-empt what Mondlane would say tomorrow but pointed out that Mondlane had pronounced 25 days of protests after the elections and that so far there had been 10 days of protests.

“I assume that there were 15 days left but it all depends on what he is going to say on Monday. He made the announcement on Friday, saying the second stage of the protest was successful and that they were going to the next stage – but said he would talk about this on Monday. He did not tell the protesters to stop but when he called for the protests, he had said it was from 1 to 7 November,” Andre said.

Security expert and director of Geopolitical Intelligence Advisory Lunga Dweba said, if not curbed, the violence was likely to spill over into the neighbouring South Africa and could result in displacement of Mozambicans who could cross into South Africa.

“People could run for safety into neighbouring countries, including South Africa,” he said.

Frelimo has ruled Mozambique, one of the poorest countries in the world, with an iron fist for more than 50 years.

Observer teams, including that from the EU, reported irregularities in the voting process and the processing of results, where 20% of support was allocated to Mondlane of Podemos and 6% to Renamo.

At least three people were killed and more than 70 injured in last week’s protests in Maputo. Videos circulating on social media show police using live ammunition and tear gas on citizens, and bloodied injured people being carried to hospitals.

The government has restricted access to social media and the internet to try to curb further unrest, while outgoing Frelimo president Filipe Nyusi, along with other senior government officials and their families, fled to Pemba in the north of the country. Rwandan troops have been deployed here to protect the gas fields.

Unrest also spilt over to the border posts with South Africa, with Ressano Garcia and Lebombo closed last week. Anarchy reigned on Tuesday afternoon on the Mozambican side of the Lebombo border post after a border police officer shot and killed a schoolchild. According to bystanders, a group of high school children were on their way home when one of them pretended to throw a stone at the police. The child was shot dead, and the community rose in revolt.

The Mozambican border post at Ressano Garcia was set on fire, and the customs offices at Kilometer 4 – where commercial clearances for trucks are done – were destroyed.

Rioters took the keys of several trucks and parked them across the road for kilometres. Several truck drivers fled into the bushes, while some trucks were stripped of their cargo, and a truck full of fish from the Western Cape was set on fire.

Customs vehicles were set on fire while Mozambican police and customs officers took off their uniforms and sought shelter in their underwear with their South African counterparts.

The SA Border Management Authority used police reinforcements and soldiers to prevent the unrest from spilling over the border. Trucks and taxis waited in Komatipoort and Mbombela for the unrest to subside and the border posts to reopen. By yesterday morning, the border posts were reopened for trucks and vehicles.

Maputo’s port is also back in operation after business there was halted due to slow strikes and unrest.

“Almost all consumer goods in the country are imported through this port,” says a South African involved there. The South African logistics company Grindrod, which operates imports and terminals at the ports of Maputo and Matola, temporarily suspended its operations last week.

According to Mozambique’s Centre for Democracy and Human Rights, at least 34 people were shot dead around the election period. Election observers unofficially claimed that more than a million votes were counted than the 16.8 million registered voters. Podemos has appealed the results to the constitutional council, which must certify the election results.

Mondlane’s lawyer was shot dead along with Podemos’ spokesperson on the eve of the announcement of the election results. Mondlane himself fled to South Africa for his own safety and is reportedly now in Sandton.

Border officials inspect a burnt-out Mozambican border patrol vehicle at the border crossing in LebomboPHOTO: AP Photo

Mondlane (50), an engineer who got involved in politics eight years ago, is particularly popular among Mozambique’s youth, 70% of whom are unemployed. Nearly two-thirds of the country’s people live in poverty despite the government’s enormous earnings from gas and minerals.

With the December holidays approaching, several governments have issued travel warnings against visiting the country. This while Mozambique’s tourism industry is still trying to recover from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The South African department of international relations and cooperation also added its voice to the travel warnings last week. No incidents involving tourists or at holiday destinations have been reported yet.

The Southern African Development Community (SADC), under Zimbabwe’s chairmanship, has meanwhile convened an urgent summit on the situation for 20 November in Harare. Preliminary meetings begin on 15 November.

The SADC election observers, led by Amani Abeid Karume of Zanzibar, said in a preliminary statement that the pre-processes and voting in Mozambique were “professionally organised” and took place in a “free and fair atmosphere”.

Reads a statement from Chrispin Phiri, department of international relations and cooperation spokesperson:

A panel of veteran leaders led by former president Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania and the mediation reference group are appropriate institutions to resolve disputes, including post-election disputes in member states.

According to the EU observer team’s statement, they found irregularities in the vote counting and recording of the results. The South African and SADC statements do not refer to the counting process.

Nel Marais, a political analyst, says the situation will have to be defused through negotiations. However, Podemos does not have a clear political structure, so it is unclear with whom Frelimo would have to negotiate.

Guidelines are also needed on what to negotiate about. “It cannot just be about the election results while the real problems were with the election processes.”

The Catholic Church, which continuously plays a strong role in maintaining peace in the country, could also be involved in a facilitation process before formal negotiations begin.

According to Marais, Mozambique is largely dependent on income from its gas fields to lift the country out of poverty. The income from these fields has increased by 10 000% after the extremist insurgency in Cabo Delgado was brought under control, but the current political challenges could bring uncertainty again.

“Mozambique simply cannot afford for this income to be disrupted again.”