Good afternoon. It has been about a year since the end of the nationwide protests triggered by the disputed elections of October 2024 that brought President Daniel Chapo to power. However, members of the government and ruling party Frelimo still feel the need to fight back against those protests, judging by speeches delivered over the past seven days. Francisco Mucanheia, a senior member of Frelimo’s Political Commission, has said that the protests were organised by foreign intelligence agencies intent on removing from power Africa’s so-called liberation parties. Justice minister Mateus Saize has told parliament that human rights abuses said to have been carried out by the armed forces were actually done by protesters who had stolen their uniforms. Health minister Ussene Isse has blamed the constant shortage of medicines and other supplies in hospitals on the protesters who, incredibly, he says stole four years’ worth of supplies. The idea that there were four years’ worth of supplies lying around, and that protesters had somewhere to put a vast amount of stolen goods, is very difficult to believe.
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It is a little late to be invoking the protests now, so why do it? The most likely-looking reason is that Frelimo needs someone to blame for the problems facing the country. Now that Chapo has been president for over a year, people are less inclined to blame his predecessor and more expectant for him to deliver solutions. But it does not feel like the country is doing much better under Chapo’s leadership. Despite the deep economic slump caused by the protests, there has been no bounceback: economic growth has been very weak, mainly due to low business confidence, and given the government’s surprise and arbitrary-looking interventions in the economy, it is not hard to see why. Meanwhile, the shortage of medical supplies is constantly being reported about on the TV news. So, a scapegoat must be found. In a similar way, the government points the finger at opposition politician Venâncio Mondlane for the state of the country. It looks like Frelimo has decided to put Mondlane on trial, which as this newsletter noted recently will give the party a chance to try and attack his reputation and get people to blame him instead.
