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Can’t talk or won’t talk?

President Daniel Chapo needs Venâncio Mondlane’s help to make the country governable. Party resistance might be why he has yet to do so

Today’s front pages in Maputo. Photo © Faizal Chauque / Zitamar News

Good afternoon. Two fairly extraordinary outbursts of violence over the last few days, the beheading of a military reservist in the town of Morrumbala and the storming of a prison in Sofala province (see below), testify to the state of lawlessness into which the country has fallen, and which may be getting worse. 

As well as challenging the authority of the government and the security forces, these incidents have a revolutionary character to them. Rumours spread on social media say that the dead reservist was drawing up lists of supporters of the opposition Podemos party to be assassinated. The context for this is that many opposition activists have been killed across the country since the elections in October, and popular opinion blames the security forces for conducting an assassination campaign.

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Venâncio Mondlane, the former opposition presidential candidate and leader of recent anti-government protests, announced this afternoon that he was parting ways with the Podemos party, which supported his independent race for the October 2024 presidential election. A letter signed by Mondlane’s adviser Dinis Tivane and released today said that Podemos was not supporting the Mozambican people and their struggle to save the country, referring to the party’s decision to accept its seats in parliament despite contesting the election results. It also referred to “rumours” that Podemos had been bribed to give up the struggle with sums of money and cars. The letter says it is from “the office of the president of the people”. In an interview last week with broadcaster TV Miramar, Mondlane called Albino Forquilha, the president of Podemos, a traitor. Mondlane, who insists that he was the rightful winner of the presidential election, said he would consider founding a new political party.
Zitamar Mozambique Live Blog
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💥 Islamic State-backed insurgents attacked the village of Nicocue in the Montepuez district of Cabo Delgado province yesterday. A local source said the village was looted but there have been no reported casualties so far.

All this is not surprising, given the protests over the past three months sparked by the disputed elections and the police repression of those protests. Even the complaints about the cost of living can be linked to Venâncio Mondlane, the former opposition presidential candidate who instigated anti-government protests last year, and his demand for cheaper everyday goods. What is perhaps more surprising is the lack of a coherent message from the government in response to these and other events.

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