MOZAMBIQUE ROCKED BY POST-ELECTION VIOLENCE

By Ml. Luqman Skink, INX Prime news and current affairs editor

Following Mozambique’s October 9 polls and before the official results are announced on Friday, unrest has continued to grow around the country.

One day after the poll, the main opposition candidate Venancio Mondlane claimed victory and claimed the election had been rigged.

On Tuesday, EU election observers said some voting results had been doctored while evidence of irregularities was widespread during counting, and that election results at polling station and district level had been altered.

The political tensions were heightened by the by the killing of Mondlane’s lawyer Elvino Dias and Paulo Gambe, a parliamentary candidate for the Pedomos a small, recently-created opposition party backing Mondlane’s presidential bid.

Speaking to INX Prime, Islamic scholar who works in Mozambique’s NGO sector, Shiekh Mussagy Abdurahman said opposition political parties have announced another shutdown planned for Thursday and Friday.

EMOTIONS ARE RUNNING HIGH

”People were concerned when the opposition politicians were shot and killed causing emotions to run high as accusations of vote rigging abound. This issue has divided the community with some saying we should have peace and others saying supporting the riots.”

Sheikh said in Tete province residents rioted on the streets and the ensuing chaos some people clashed with police who fired teargas, with two or three people losing their lives and scores injured.

FRELIMO’S 49-YEAR GRIP ON POWER

Sheikh Mussagy says the lack of a co-ordinated vision and seriousness by opposition politicians in Mozambique is also to blame for Frelimo’s almost 50 year grip on power.

”Politicians have complained that the political system is broken and needs to be dismantled but have entered the election without a co-ordinated, organised approach. They are now crying foul after the fact. We have seen this far too many times over the many years in the Mozambiquan political landscape.”

He said he expected tensions to continue to get worse as most people in Mozambique have lost trust in the ability of the government to investigate murder and find those responsible to hold them accountable.

’STAY AT HOME AND BE SAFE’

As the political climate in Mozambique becomes more volatile and the threat of violence becomes a reality in Maputo and other cities, Shiekh Mussagy said the advice being given to Muslims who have asked for directives from the country’s ulema is to be safe and to stay at home.

He expressed the hope that Allah (SWT) would deliver the country from this very tense and unpredictable situation.