Renamo president accuses Nyusi of trying to ‘push the country into a new war’

This Sunday, President Renamo accused Mozambique’s head of state of trying to “push the country into a new war” amid the police crackdown on marches challenging the election results, believing that his party will not back down.

“Mozambicans are concerned that Filipe Jacinto Nyusi, the commander-in-chief of the Defense and Security Forces, is demonstrating with his commanding voice that he intends to push the country into a new war,” Ossufo Momade said during a press conference. The conference will take place this Sunday in Maputo.

At issue is a police crackdown on marches led by the Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo) to protest the results of the October 11 elections, in which the Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo, in power) was declared winner in 65 of 64 municipalities. with the exception of Beira, which was won by the Democratic Movement of Mozambique (MDM), the third parliamentary party.

Ossufo Momade confirmed that his party will not retreat until the “truth of the elections” is restored, given that Renamo has evidence (advertisements) that shows that the party won in several municipalities.

“We call on all lovers of peace, democracy and prosperity to remain steadfast in the struggle to restore the will expressed on October 11, because we are for free, fair and transparent elections,” he said.

The president of Mozambique’s main opposition party also criticized the actions of the Mozambican police during protests in various parts of Mozambique, condemning the alleged persecution of its members.

“There are persecutions and arbitrary arrests of citizens, as well as the invasion and siege of political delegations of the Renamo party, as is the case in the cities of Nampula and Maputo, in the latter a building was even searched. Terrace,” Momade said.

“It is inexplicable that this path of genuine police terrorism against citizens and the state involves citizens dressed in civilian clothes who wield and fire weapons as if they were mercenaries,” the Renamo leader added, referring to a group of armed men allegedly of police who were seen in plainclothes searching for protesters on Friday amid unrest in Maputo.

Mozambique’s sixth municipal elections took place on October 11 in 65 municipalities across the country, including 12 new municipalities that went to vote for the first time.

The main opposition party is holding marches across the country to challenge the October 11 election results, rallying thousands of people to denounce alleged “mega-fraud” on the ballot.

A police officer and a young man died during demonstrations in Nampula and Nacala against local election results, according to the Center for Public Integrity (CIP), a Mozambican non-governmental organization (NGO) monitoring the elections.

The officer was killed in retaliation for the shooting of a ten-year-old child as he left school, in an action that was part of the government’s response to demonstrations against local elections in the city of Nampula.

In the city of Nacala, also in Nampula province, a young man died after being hit with a blunt object in the central market of Nacala during clashes between people and police, CIP reported.

Trade stopped in both cities, markets and commercial establishments were closed.

The deaths reported by the NGO have not yet been confirmed by authorities, who did acknowledge that at least 10 people were injured and another 70 were detained during the clashes.

According to Mozambican electoral law, the results of the vote must still be certified and declared by the Constitutional Council (CC), the highest judicial body.

The Mozambican government and Renamo were the protagonists in the longest armed conflict Mozambique has ever known: the 16-year civil war.

Renamo’s last base, now demilitarized, was closed in Vunduzi, Gorongosa region, in June this year, more than 30 years after the end of the Mozambican civil war.

The closure of the latest base is part of the Peace and National Reconciliation Agreement signed between the Frelimo government and Renamo in August 2019.

The agreement was the third agreement signed between the parties, with the first two being broken and leading to armed confrontation after Renamo disputed election results.