The newly sworn-in politician of the municipal assembly of Quelimane in central Mozambique was found dead in the municipality this Friday with signs of aggression, a police source told Lusa.
The body of Celeste Mucuña of the Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo, the ruling party) was found this Friday around 05:00 (03:00 Lisbon time) in Nicoadal, about 15 kilometers from the center of the provincial capital. Zambezia (Quelimane), said Lusa Miguel Cayetano, head of the public relations department of the provincial police department of the Republic of Mozambique.
“Part of her body was found charred, but on another part of the body, still visible, signs of aggression were found, which allows us to conclude that before she was burned, she was first attacked,” explained Miguel Cayetano, adding that The authorities are making every effort to clarify the matter.
Celeste Mucuña was last seen on Wednesday, the day she took office among the new members of the Quelimane municipal assembly.
Of the 65 municipalities, Quelimane is among five that Frelimo did not win in the last elections, having been re-elected as mayor by Manuel de Araujo of the Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo), the main opposition force.
Like Maputo, the capital of Mozambique, Quelimane was one of the municipalities that registered a strong movement to contest the October 11 election results after the first figures were announced by the National Electoral Commission (CNE) that gave Frelimo a victory.
Renamo accused electoral authorities of acting as a “criminal ring” in favor of Frelimo and committing alleged fraud in local elections.
A re-examination of the Constitutional Council, the highest body of electoral justice, will in a few weeks declare Renamo the winner of autarchy after more than 40 days of protests by party supporters against the results announced by the CNE.
Frelimo won 60 of the country’s 65 municipalities, Renamo won four, half of the eight it won in 2018, and the Mozambique Democratic Movement (MDM) retained the city of Beira, which it has governed since 2003.
The results of the October vote were sharply disputed by the opposition and civil society.