Part-time pastor and politician, Venâncio Mondlane, urged his supporters to participate in peaceful nationwide demonstrations from November 13th to 15th to protest against alleged vote rigging. Mondlane, who ran as an independent candidate after the main opposition backed another candidate in the October 9th general elections, maintains that the elections did not reflect the wishes of the people.
Mondlane has served as a pastor with the Igreja Ministério Divina Esperança (Divine Hope Ministry Church) in Maputo whose leader Luís Fole, met outgoing President, Filipe Nyusi, on November 8th. Mondlane has been on record saying that Fole is his ‘spiritual leader’. President Nyusi posted on Facebook that the talks centered on how the church and the government can work together for the stability and the development of the country.
The 50-year-old part-time pastor who started his career as an engineer was seeking to unseat the independence party FRELIMO which has been in power since 1975. Mozambique’s National Electoral Commission on October 24 announced Daniel Chapo as the winner of the presidential election with 70% of the votes cast going to the FRELIMO candidate.
Mondlane contested the results and escaped the country after his lawyer and friend, Elvino Dias, was killed while preparing an election petition. He posted on his Facebook profile that he narrowly escaped an assassination attempt while in asylum in South Africa weeks after the elections. Mondlane said he left the continent fearing for his life and that of his family but has continued to call for peaceful protests, which have grounded the country to a halt.
The street protests have been met with force by the police. At least 30 people have been killed, scores injured and over 400 arrested since October 19th according to human rights organizations. On November 4th, residents of the capital, Maputo, and other cities started banging pots from their balconies and in different neighborhoods as a form of alternative protest mobilized on social media.
The European Union questioned the transparency of the elections and condemned the killing of Dias, and that of Paulo Guambe, one of the leaders of the Podemos Party, which was supporting Mondlane. The US embassy and the African Union also condemned the killing of the two Mondlane allies who were shot by assailants in Maputo.
Catholic Bishops, in a terse letter, claimed that there was rampant irregularities in the polls such as ballot box stuffing, altered results sheets “and many other ways of hiding the truth.”
“The irregularities and frauds, by and large committed with impunity, increase the lack of trust in the election bodies, and in leaders who abdicate from their dignity, and despise the truth and sense of service which should guide those whom the people trust with their votes,” said the bishops.
Other independent poll observers also raised irregularities, fraud and vote tampering.
Mondlane, who is also a former radio presenter, galvanized the significant youth population under the banner ‘Save Mozambique - this country is ours’. The youth population, under 35 years, is estimated to be 80% of the population.
Mondlane used his widespread social media presence to mobilize supporters who have expressed frustration with the governance of the country, noted the non-profit, International Crisis Group. “This sentiment is particularly intense among young people living in towns who are active on social media and make up the core of Mondlane’s support base,” said the Crisis Group.
The protests are expected to exert pressure on the Constitutional Council which has the powers to audit and annul the election results. Before his shot at the presidency, Mondlane ran for other elective posts including the mayoral seat in Maputo in 2018 and 2023 and was an MP between 2020 and 2024.
At the same time, Botswana, considered Africa’s most stable democracy, voted overwhelmingly to eject the independence party, the Botswana Democratic Party, which has been in power for 58 years. Outgoing President Mokgweetsi Masisi handed power to Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) Duma Boko in a peaceful and smooth transition.
