More than 50 days after the election in Mozambique, tensions over the results show no signs of easing. On Monday, Venancio Mondlane, the opposition presidential candidate and runner-up in the October 8 election, called for fresh protests.
In a video shared on Facebook, Mondlane urged his supporters to disrupt traffic. Since electoral authorities declared the ruling party’s Daniel Chapo the winner, near-daily rallies have erupted across the southern African nation.
The opposition alleges that Frelimo, Mozambique’s ruling party since 1975, secured its victory through electoral fraud. Civil society groups report that the resulting crackdown by security forces has claimed at least 76 lives and left 210 people injured.
According to official figures from the National Election Commission (CNE), Chapo won 71% of the vote, while Mondlane, an independent candidate supported by the Podemos party, garnered 20%. Most of the violent demonstrations have been concentrated in Maputo, the country’s capital.
