The Mozambican elections on October 9 have produced glaringly conflicting results. The official count attributed 70.62% to Daniel Chapo of the governing party Frelimo, a former provincial governor and filing clerk.
The parallel count conducted by opposition party Podemos (“We can”) — on the basis of result sheets from individual polling stations — attributes 53.30% to its presidential candidate, Venâncio Mondlane.
The party lists for parliament resulted in an official 195 seats for Frelimo and, according to the parallel count, 138 seats for Podemos out of a total 250 seats in parliament.
Election observers and diplomats agree that glaring irregularities occurred during the voting, but even more so during the secret computation of the results at provincial and national levels. The government rejected demands by observers for access to the counting sheets.
On October 30, Mozambique’s Constitutional Council, acting as a constitutional court, on an application by Podemos, ordered the government to produce the calculations and computations for six of the 10 provinces, as well as for Maputo. As in all past elections in Mozambique, the council will attribute some minor corrections and confirm the overall result of the election in favour of Frelimo, which controls the majority of its politically appointed judges.
Mondlane proposed negotiations on a government of national unity, to follow South Africa’s example. His appeal was aggressively rejected by sitting president Filipe Nyusi, who threatened to proclaim a state of emergency and remain in power for its duration.
The internet is full of recordings of people on the streets and in public transport, following me on their mobile phones. I am everywhere, all the time
— Venâncio Mondlane
To worsen the crisis, on October 19, Mondlane’s attorney and right-hand man, Elvino Bernardo António Dias, was shot 15 times in the vehicle he was travelling in, together with his assistant Paulo Guambe. The crime scene in the middle of Maputo was immediately cordoned off by a large police contingent, who prevented medics from assisting the victims until they could be pronounced dead.
The gruesome assassination is attributed to Mozambique’s infamous “death squads” that have over the years “eliminated” many perceived challengers to Frelimo’s domination, since 1974, of Mozambican politics. Their most prominent victim was Prof Gilles Cistac, a candidate for appointment as a judge to the African Court on Human and People’s Rights, who was killed in 2015.
Mondlane understood the warning and fled Mozambique on October 24. He stayed in Sandton until last Monday, when a Mozambican team of assassins caught up with him. Mondlane was forced to escape in the early morning hours through a bathroom window and make his way to a safer country, crossing four international borders.
Mondlane is a new-age politician who communicates with his 4-million-plus voters through social media. Some of his Facebook live broadcasts have reached more than 300,000 real-time listeners, and had more than 2-million downloads. At the beginning of his political activism, he would broadcast live from the slums in Maputo and rap his protest together with the youngsters surrounding him. “Descalços” — the ones without shoes — are his original following.
Questioned on Friday on how he intended to continue leading his opposition voters from hiding, he answered: “The internet is full of recordings of people on the streets and in public transport, following me on their mobile phones. I am everywhere, all the time. The government ordered the mobile phone providers on Friday October 25 at midday to shut down all internet access. We threatened to collapse all the transmission towers and burn the physical installations of the mobile phone companies, and overnight all access was restored.”
Mondlane, 50, trained as an engineer in forestry management. He became disillusioned witnessing 70% deforestation of Mozambique by Chinese loggers and their powerful accomplices in the Frelimo government. He worked for several years as a systems controller at Millennium Bank in Maputo and understands figures and balance sheets. He is also a volunteer pastor for Mozambique’s small Divine Hope Church. Its leader, Apostle Lourenço, made a prophecy that Mondlane has been chosen to lead Mozambique out of poverty and despair.
In a broadcast on Tuesday, Mondlane announced seven days of national strike and passive resistance action, to culminate on Thursday this week with a national march on Maputo. The battle cries are: burn down the power, stop assassinating the people, kneel before the people and ask for their forgiveness.
Will this week be the “high noon” in Mozambique’s postcolonial history? Will Frelimo’s iron fist on politics open up and give way to politics of inclusion and progress? Mondlane announced during his Friday evening broadcast that he will return to Maputo in time to lead the “great march” on Thursday.
Mondlane is confident that many police officers and soldiers will join the march. He has promised them reforms, free family medical aid, better pensions, better service conditions and respect. He also wants the removal of political party affiliation and coercion in the public service, an end to government-assisted kidnappings for ransom of wealthy businessmen, a negotiated end to the Islamic insurgency in Cabo Delgado, and a comprehensive reform of the tax system that is stifling the private sector.
Most importantly, Mondlane envisages a review of the natural gas licensing conditions and LNG sales, to bring about an earlier revenue stream for the national purse. He is also promising to close Mozambique to the powerful drug traffickers who have turned the country into a cocaine and heroin depot, with the suspected help and involvement of Nyusi’s oldest son, Florindo, a notorious collector of Rolls-Royces and other extravagant cars.
In anticipation of Thursday's march, the government has called on the Rwandese battalions stationed in Cabo Delgado to patrol and secure Maputo. The first tanks and heavily armed foreign soldiers have arrived in Maputo, not bothering to consult with the Sadc organ on politics, defence & security.
Mondlane says that whatever the outcome, there will be a fundamental didactical effect. The world will find out that the young generation in Africa is no longer helpless and ignorant. Even after the Frelimo government managed to block social media access through comprehensive netblocks on October 31, it took 100,000 followers only a few hours to install and connect through VPN servers. “We cannot be silenced” is Mondlane’s message.
• Prof André Thomashausen is professor emeritus for international and comparative law at Unisa
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