Mozambique President-elect calls for ‘unity’ amidst turmoil

Mozambique’s president-elect has called for “non-violence” and “unity”, following massive unrest this week that was triggered by his governing party’s challenged election victory.

Despite accusations of extensive vote-rigging by the opposition, Daniel Chapo, the leader of the long-governing Frelimo party, said on Friday that he “regretted” the violence, according to source.

Chapo further pledged to be “the president of all” in the Southern African nation after his inauguration in mid-January.

After months of demonstrations, Chapo’s contested victory in the October election—confirmed by Mozambique’s top court on Monday—sparked a week of unrest.

Thousands of Mozambicans have reportedly fled to neighboring Malawi as a result of it.

This week, opposition leader Venancio Mondlane organized four days of protests, during which several stores and businesses were looted and streets were blocked.

Thousands of prisoners also escaped from a Maputo prison during the mayhem, reports say.

According to local NGO Plataforma Decide, 134 people were killed during the week of turmoil, bringing the total number of fatalities since the elections to at least 261.

In his first public remarks following the court ruling, Chapo stated that the northern cities of Nampula, the central city of Beira, the neighboring city of Matola, and the capital Maputo were the most severely impacted.

He added that multiple police officers lost their lives in the conflicts and that “these acts only contribute to the decline of the country and the increase in the number of Mozambicans who are heading towards unemployment and poverty.”

Since the end of the battle against Portuguese colonial control in 1975, Frelimo has been in charge of Mozambique.

However, Mondlane’s opposition, which enjoys widespread support among young people in Mozambique, asserted that the election on October 9 was rigged.

The contested election, which the Constitutional Council claimed Chapo won with almost 65 percent of the vote, also had voting anomalies, according to international observers.

Escaping to Malawi

According to Malawian authorities, around 2,000 Mozambican families have fled to Malawi this week amid post-election turmoil.

As of Wednesday, 2,182 Mozambican homes escaping the violence have entered Malawi’s Nsanje region, which borders Mozambique, according to a senior Malawian official.

In a letter to the nation’s refugee commissioner obtained by the Reuters news agency, Dominic Mwandira, the district commissioner of Nsanje, stated: “The situation remains dire as these individuals urgently require humanitarian assistance.”

African regional leaders have reportedly stated that they are prepared to help Mozambique resolve its political issue.

“Countries in the region need Mozambique because they rely on Mozambique’s ports.

“For example, the fuel that goes to Zimbabwe comes through Mozambique,” she stated.

“Regional countries are urging leaders in Mozambique to have a dialogue… and resolve the unrest and the political impasse in the country.”

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