The violence of the last three days in Mozambique, where the opposition demonstrates against the proclaimed victory of the ruling party in the October elections, has left 125 dead, according to a local NGO, and the opposition shows no sign of running out of steam. .
On Tuesday evening, the government reported 21 deaths during the first 24 hours of riots in several major cities of this poor southern African country, after the victory of the ruling party, Frelimo, for the presidency was confirmed on Monday. and the National Assembly.
The spectacular escape of 1,500 inmates from the large high-security prison in the capital Maputo on Wednesday also left 33 dead among the escaped prisoners, according to the police chief, in clashes with guards.
But Plataforma Decide, a ONG with a serious reputation and whose counts are regularly taken up by Amnesty International and other international NGOs, has recorded a total of 125 deaths throughout the country.
This would therefore bring the death toll since the start of the demonstrations which followed the October 9 election to 252, in a country which had not experienced such violence since the end of the civil war, apart from the abuses committed by armed jihadist groups in the north.
Most of the deaths were recorded around Maputo, in the northern provinces, notably in Nampula where the opposition is strong, as well as around Beira, the country’s second city. The police and authorities rarely confirm the reports, most often making do with fragmentary information.
An election stolen
More than 4,000 people have been arrested since October in connection with these violent protests, including 137 in the last three days, according to Plataforma Decide.
Despite numerous irregularities raised by international observer missions, the Constitutional Council confirmed Monday that Daniel Chapo, Frelimo candidate in power since independence in 1975, had won the presidential election with 65.17% of the votes. His inauguration is scheduled for mid-January.
The opposition, led by a charismatic former television commentator who went into hiding abroad, Venancio Mondlane, calls on the population to demonstrate to denounce this election stolen
. On Thursday, he accused the police of allowing looting and vandalism to flourish in order to give those in power a pretext to declare a state of emergency and crush protest.
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The leader of the opposition in Mozambique, Venancio Mondlane, during a press scrum in Maputo on October 19.
Photo : afp via getty images / ALFREDO ZUNIGA
Our protests target the Constitutional Council, the electoral commission, the Frelimo party itself, who are responsible for the fraud
electoral, affirmed the opponent who claims victory in one of his numerous messages broadcast on social networks.
Faced with attacks on businesses and infrastructure in large cities, there is no no police action
Who almost encourages people to attack to steal
says the 50-year-old opponent. He also argues that security and defense forces commit attacks and theft
contributing to amplifying the disorder.
It is more than obvious that these acts of vandalism are linked to an already developed plan, which was foiled before, and which consisted of declaring a state of emergency, which did not work, and now they [le pouvoir] do it.
Some barricades on the main roads of Maputo and the neighboring town of Matola had been dismantled on Thursday, but many were still in place and traffic was difficult, AFP noted.
In the center of the capital, supermarkets opened for half a day. The banks, which had announced their reopening, ultimately kept their doors closed.
Several service stations also opened, but had to close after a few hours due to lack of supplies, with transport by tanker trucks remaining very disrupted.
