Mozambique: Shouts of Revolution in Maputo as Govt Shuts Down Internet

The night of shouts of revolution in central Maputo 

Between 21.30 and 23.30  last night(Monday), Maputo city occupants of high rise apartment blocks responded to the call by Venâncio Mondlane for everybody to hold a peaceful demonstration in their own houses. For two hours, residents blew whistles or banged on saucepans or other objects that made a noise, as the video shows.

They were shouting “The people in power” and “This country is ours! Rescue Mozambique!”. The residents of many of the buildings in central Maputo are leaders of Frelimo.

The various wings of the police went into the streets armed, but nobody was on the streets. The citizens were in their homes. The police fired tear gas onto deserted streets.

The Internet shutdown, which began at 17.00 and was only re-established at about 09.00 on Tuesday morning, did not prevent the circulation of messages.

—————

Call for Portugal to not recognise Mozambique election

A member of the Portuguese parliament cited the example of Portugal labelling the recent Venezuela election invalid, and called on the government to not recognise the election in Mozambique. Speaking in parliament (https://bit.ly/Moz-El-invalid) she said the fraud and subsequent violence in Mozambique was as bad as Venezuela and called on the Foreign Minister to use the precedent of Venezuela to declare the Mozambican election invalid.

—————

Another day of extreme violence and police murders

On Monday, Maputo city was the centre of the demonstrations. For the first time, demonstrations reached the cement city. The Students of Residence 5 of Eduardo Mondlane University, decided to demonstrate on Mao Tse Tung Avenue, and were driven back by tear gas. Also present were various members of political parties who had been called by Podemos for Tuesday’s march. The students returned to their residence and began to hit saucepans against the walls, joining the noisemaking reported above.

A different group marching from Xiquelene market, along Julius Nyerere Avenue, was stopped about a kilometre from the Presidential office., and the police fired tear gas to disperse the group.

On the outskirts of Maputo, in neighbourhoods such as Magoanine, Albazine, Hulene and Maxaquene, roads were blocked. There are reports of at least five people killed by the police, two of them in Magoanine and the third in Hulene. All were children, and two were returning from school.

In Matola in Malhampsene neighbourhood, a person died from a police bullet and demonstrators in retaliation killed the policeman who fired the shot.

The road from Mozambique to South Africa was interrupted, due to a blockade of National Highway No. 4, at Ressano Garcia. The demonstrators obliged South African trucks to block the road.

—————

Police and helicopters fire gas into Matola homes

The peaceful environment which had characterised  Patrice Lumumba neighbourhood, Matola, since 31 October changed drastically on Monday, into a climate of tension. Demonstrators tried to wreck the Frelimo party offices, but without success, because the police intervened immediately.

Helicopters overflew the area and dropped tear gas onto the homes near the Frelimo office in the afternoon. The environment was one of great tension with the Frelimo office liable to be attacked at any moment.

In addition to tear gas, the police fired rubber bullets and real bullets. A mast of the mobile phone company Movitel, installed in the Patrice Lumumba Complete Primary School, was burnt down.

In the KM15 zone, in the Machava neighbourhood, police opened fire to disperse the demonstrators.

—————

Two killed and 23 shot in Meconta

The weekend demonstrations in Namialo, Meconta district, Nampula , resulted in two deaths and 23 injuries, eight of them serious. One of those killed was not registered by the health authorities. He was a 17 year old adolescent. Only one of those murdered was registered. Fourteen people were detained in connection with the demonstrations. Shops and stalls along the main road were vandalized.

In Mogincual, one person was shot on 5 November. He was transferred to Nampula Central Hospital.

—————

Foreign Minister meets with diplomats  – but she is also Frelimo party election agent

accredited in Mozambique, confused her duties as Foreign Minister with those of election agent for Frelimo in the most fraudulent general elections ever held in Mozambique.

Despite speaking to diplomats about the elections, Macamo did not disguise her role as Frelimo election agent. She told observers that  “the candidate Venâncio Mondlane declared himself the winner when only 10% of the votes had been counted”, and that he “rejected early the framework, an objection in which he was later joined by Lutero Simango, Ossufo Momade and their parties, alleging irregularities and frauds, thus creating a political environment similar to the preceding elections”.

At no time did Verónica Macamo mention that the elections were marked by ballot box stuffing, and bribes paid to polling station staff (MMVs) and opposition monitors to allow Frelimo to manipulate the results by stuffing the ballot boxes (see bulletins 306, 307, 308, 309, 310 and 311).

Likewise, Verónica Macamo did not tell the diplomatic corps that the  polling station staff, includiig chair, deputy chairs, secretaries and fourth scrutineers were indicated through clandestine lists drawn up by the Frelimo Party district committees (see bulletins 304, 305 and 306).

The Frelimo election agent omitted or minimised the positions of the observers from the European Union and the International Republican Institute who found that the elections were marked by various irregularities including ballot box stuffing. Macamo merely stated  “some Observers mentioned the phenomenon of ballot box stuffing”.

The EU Observation Mission said that its observers witnessed ballot box stuffing in six provinces, while the national observers, said they had witnessed this phenomenon in 10% of the polling stations throughout the country.

For example, the observers in Zambézia, reported that many polling station chairpersons had piles of ballot papers, ripped out of the book of ballot papers and ready to be delivered to selected people who would fill out several ballot papers in favour of Frelimo and then fold them together. One chairperson had 38 ballot papers in front of him and another had 45. They were given to previously chosen people, some of whom received 200 Mt (3 US dollars) in exchange.

Macamo’s 17 page speech not only omitted the role of Frelimo, the party of which she is an agent, in manipulating the elections and the police violence which led to the deaths of about 15 people. But she also attacked Podemos, the party which supports Venâncio Mondlane, the greatest victim of the election fraud perpetrated by the ruling party.

Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters

Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox

Success!

Almost finished…

We need to confirm your email address.

To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you.

Error!

There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later.

The Frelimo election agent, using her cover as Foreign Minister, declared: “the speeches of candidate Mondlane and his supporters created the environment for transforming the demonstrations – a constitutional right – into acts of vandalism, theft and violence which spread across the country, and resulted in the deaths of some people, imprisonment, looting and destruction”. Macamo omitted the orders given by Frelimo to shoot at the demonstrators.

—————

Podemos delegate in Mogovolas is alive

At the weekend, reports circulated that the Podemos delegate in Mogovolas district, in Nampula province, had been kidnapped and found dead. The story was not true. He is alive. But there is a Podemos member who was kidnapped and found dead on Monday a few kilometres from Nametil, the Mogovolas district capital.  He was kidnapped and murdered in the early morning by the side of the road.

The kidnap and murder of a young Podemos member at the weekend is, for the provincial delegate, evidence of the intentions of the death squads. All Podemos representatives have received death threats from the police death squads. The Podemos provincial delegate in Nampula says they have been hiding from their houses to find safe places because of the harassment they are suffering.

—————

Internet shutdown hinders virtual work

Some schools were resorting to online classes to minimise the losses caused by the stoppage of activities due to the demonstrations contesting the election results. But the Internet shutdown is preventing some schools, particularly private ones, from continuing to teach. Companies now find distance working impossible, and online financial operations are also becoming very difficult.

ADVERTISEMENT