Mozambique descends into chaos as crisis over vote intensifies

Matthew Hill and Borges Nhamire, Bloomberg News on Dec 25, 2024

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A wave of violence spread across Mozambique following the validation of the ruling party’s victory in October’s disputed election, resulting in the deaths of at least 56 people in the African nation.

The death toll has risen to 186 since the unrest began on Oct. 21, according to Decide Platform, a local monitoring group. Rioters looted shops and torched police stations, while GardaWorld’s Crisis24 said that as many as 2,500 prisoners escaped from a maximum security jail outside Maputo, the capital. Authorities are trying to recapture the inmates, according to Crisis24.

Gas-rich Mozambique’s political crisis intensified after the Constitutional Council on Dec. 23 endorsed the ruling party’s victory, extending its 49-year rule, saying irregularities in the electoral process weren’t significant enough to impact the outcome. That angered opposition supporters, triggering renewed unrest. Rising lawlessness may further delay a $20 billion energy export project led by TotalEnergies SE and deter investments in one of the world’s poorest nations.

“The skies are covered in black smoke from burning tires and public and private infrastructure,” Maputo-based Center for Democracy and Human Rights said in a statement Wednesday. “The floor is covered in blood. The state is absent.”

Maputo and neighboring Matola suffered looting and vandalism on Tuesday that was “almost incomprehensible,” the state-owned Agência de Informação de Moçambique reported Wednesday. “The situation is slipping into chaos,” the news agency said.

Venâncio Mondlane, the opposition presidential candidate orchestrating the protests against what he said were rigged elections, warned on Tuesday they wouldn’t stop. He’s open to international mediation, the fiery pastor and former lawmaker said in a live stream.

At least 10 offices of the ruling Mozambique Liberation Front were burned, Interior Minister Pascoal Ronda said on state television late Tuesday.

The U.S. called the electoral process “flawed,” while the European Union pointed to “irregularities during counting of votes and unjustified alteration of election results.”

Mondlane fled the country on Oct. 21 and is in an undisclosed location. He got 24% of the vote, the Constitutional Council announced Monday, giving the ruling party candidate, Daniel Chapo, 64%. The top electoral court’s decision can’t be appealed.

“There is significant ongoing unrest across Mozambique,” the U.K. said in an advisory to travelers on Tuesday.

Emmerson Mnangagwa, Zimbabwe president and chairman of the Southern African Development Community of which Mozambique is a member, called on parties to abide by the Constitutional Council’s decision. South Africa’s government said urgent dialogue was needed between the groups.

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(With assistance from Godfrey Marawanyika.)