opposition leader announces return from exile

Mozambican opponent Venancio Mondlane, who led demonstrations from abroad denouncing the victory of the ruling party in October 2024 and which left dozens dead, announced on Sunday January 5 his return to the country before the inauguration of the new president.

“Thursday January 9 at 8:05 a.m. sharp, Venancio Mondlane will be at Mavalane International Airport” from the capital Maputo, he said during a live video on Facebook. The inauguration of the new president, Daniel Chapo, is set for January 15.

The opponent, 50, left Mozambique around October 21, saying he feared for his life after the assassination on October 19 of two of his relatives, including his lawyer, in the center of Maputo.

Since the proclamation of the results of the October 9 elections, he has denounced fraud, contested his defeat against the candidate of the party in power for half a century, the Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo), and launched a vast protest movement. who won the whole country.

Some 300 dead

Despite the irregularities raised by a number of observers, the Constitutional Council confirmed at the end of December the definitive victory of Daniel Chapo at the head of the country, with 65.17% of the votes against 24% for Mr. Mondlane. The latter had promised “chaos” and called for a “new popular uprising on an unprecedented scale” if the Constitutional Council validated the official results.

Two months of demonstrations, strikes and blockades have cost the lives of some 300 people, most of them demonstrators killed with live ammunition by security forces, according to a local NGO. The authorities, for their part, denounced looting and vandalism during the demonstrations.

“If they kill my brothers, if it’s because of Venancio, then Venancio will be there, Thursday at 8 a.m., at the airport”he insisted on Facebook. Venancio Mondlane, who mobilizes his supporters via ritual live broadcasts on social networks and refuses any compromise with Frelimo, had suggested that he could make his return for the inauguration of Daniel Chapo, 47 years old. “On January 15, we will take power in Maputohe recently said. If we have to lose our life in a just fight, we will lose it. »

Many of the 33 million inhabitants of this unequal country were counting on these elections to turn the page on Frelimo, a Marxist-inspired party from the time of independence, in power since 1975.

The UN “deeply concerned”

Daniel Chapo must succeed Felipe Nyusi, who is completing two successive mandates. On December 27, Mr. Chapo called for “non-violence” et “unity”claiming that several members of the police had been killed during clashes with demonstrators. The outgoing president, for his part, called for dialogue between the different parties to break the deadlock.

This violence has seriously affected Mozambique's economy, interrupting cross-border trade with South Africa. The mining sector has also suffered. At the end of December, the UN said “deeply worried” post-election violence which forced thousands of inhabitants to find refuge in neighboring countries, particularly in Malawi.

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) regional bloc expressed concern on Sunday that the situation “may endanger the peace and security of the country concerned and the region as a whole”declared Tanzanian President Samia Hassan during a meeting devoted to Mozambique.

“Over the past two weeks, we have witnessed the spread of violent protests which have caused enormous damage to human lives, affected economic activities and disrupted cross-border trade”said M.^me Hassan, who chaired the meeting.