On 24 March, former presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane announced that he had met with President Daniel Chapo and that they had committed to end the ongoing post-election violence that, as of the end of February, had killed over 350 people. Mondlane, who disputes the results of the October 2024 general elections and leads the protest movement that emerged in its wake, said they had also agreed that the state would provide medical support to victims of the violence, compensate families of those killed and grant amnesty to arrested protesters. Further discussions between the two men are expected. The talks may signal a change of approach from the government, which on 5 March had excluded Mondlane from an agreement it signed with eight opposition parties, aimed at facilitating a national dialogue. So far, the State has taken a hard line against protesters, launching hundreds of criminal prosecutions and continuing to employ repressive tactics to police demonstrations.

Sources: ISS Africa, Plataforma Eleitoral Decide, Club of Mozambique (1), Club of Mozambique (2), Club of Mozambique (3), Deutsche Welle        

Violence in Mozambique continued to escalate during December, as the Constitutional Council confirmed the victory of the governing FRELIMO party in October’s disputed presidential and parliamentary elections. The ruling, delivered on 23 December, was rejected by all opposition parties and candidates, and the final results sparked fresh clashes between protesters and the police. In the week following the ruling, at least 176 people were killed, including protesters, children and police officers. In addition to spiralling police violence (reported to include summary executions), December also saw some protesters increase their looting and attacks on property and the security forces, as well as shut down key economic infrastructure, such as main roads, mines and power stations. By the end of the month, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) estimated that at least 3,000 people had fled the country to Malawi and Eswatini.               

Sources: Conselho Constitucional, British Broadcasting Corporation, Plataforma Eleitoral DECIDE, Africa Confidential, Le Monde, News 24, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

During November, the number of people killed in Mozambique’s post-election violence rose to 76, as clashes between protesters and the security forces worsened. The protests began in October, following the country’s disputed general election, and have been characterised by strikes, street demonstrations, roadblocks and public pot-banging, as well as looting and attacks on property and the police. The police, supported by the military, which was deployed at the beginning of the month, used highly repressive measures against the protesters, most notably shooting them with live ammunition. By 1 December at least 240 people had been struck by bullets, including several children who were shot dead during a pot-banging protest. Authorities also continued to suspend mobile internet services. While the demonstrations have been focused on the capital, Maputo, and the provinces of Nampula and Zambezia, they have taken place across the country.

Sources: International Crisis Group (1), Plataforma Eleitoral DECIDE, International IDEA, International Crisis Group (2), British Broadcasting Corporation, Access Now  

On 9 October, Mozambique held general elections to select the President and members of the unicameral Assembly of the Republic and the provincial assemblies. According to the provisional results announced by the National Elections Commission (Comissão Nacional de Eleições, CNE) on 24 October, the ruling Mozambique Liberation Front (Frente de Libertação de Moçambique, FRELIMO) won 195 (78.0 per cent) of the 250 Assembly seats, followed by the Optimist Party for the Development of Mozambique (Partido Otimista pelo Desenvolvimento de Moçambique, PODEMOS) (31 seats; 12.4 per cent), the Mozambique National Resistance (Resistência Nacional Moçambicana, RENAMO) (20 seats; 8.0 per cent) and and the Democratic Movement of Mozambique (Movimento Democrático de Moçambique, MDM) (4 seats; 1.6 per cent). The presidential election was won by FRELIMO’s candidate, Daniel Chapo who received 70.7 per cent of the vote. The runner up, with 20.3 per cent, was Venâncio Mondlane, an independent candidate supported by PODEMOS. Alleging electoral fraud, PODEMOS and other political parties appealed the general election results to the Constitutional Council (Conselho Constitucional, CC), the body charged with validating the results. Women candidates occupied the top spot in 30 per cent of the party lists for the parliamentary contests, but there were no women among the four presidential candidates. The CNE reported presidential election turnout to be 43.5 per cent (down from 51.8 in 2019) and 43.9 per cent in the parliamentary contest (down from 51.4 in 2019). International observers and analysts reported evidence of ballot stuffing, counting and tabulation irregularities and an inflated voters’ roll.

Sources: Comissão Nacional de Eleições, Mozambique Political Process Bulletin, Club of Mozambique, Conselho Constitucional, European Union (1),  European Union (2)

In the wake of Mozambique’s disputed 9 October poll, protesters clashed with police in deadly confrontations, as thousands took to the streets over alleged election fraud. On 16 October, presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane called for a nationwide shutdown on 21st  of the month, as allegations of serious election irregularities emerged from election observers. Tensions escalated in the wake of the apparent assassination of Mondlane’s elections lawyer, Elvino Dias, and a senior official from the Optimist Party for the Development of Mozambique (Partido Otimista pelo Desenvolvimento de Moçambique, PODEMOS), Paulo Gwambe, who were shot dead in the capital Maputo on 19 October. The protests on 21 October (and those which followed on the 24th and 25th) were met with a heavy response from the police, who deployed armoured vehicles and fired tear gas and live ammunition to disperse the protesters. Some protesters threw rocks at the police, barricaded streets with burning tires and burned down public buildings. The authorities also shut down the internet. By 26 October, the police had killed at least 11 people.             

Sources: International Crisis Group, The Africa Report, British Broadcasting Corporation, Africa Confidential, Human Rights Watch, Mozambique Political Process Bulletin

Voter turnout in Mozambique’s presidential and parliamentary elections fell to a two-decade low. According to data from the National Election Commission (Comissão Nacional de Eleições, CNE), just 43.5 per cent of registered voters cast their ballot in the presidential election and the figure was only marginally higher for the parliamentary poll (43.9 per cent). Compared to the previous general election in 2019 (when turnout for the presidential election was 51.8 per cent and for the parliamentary elections it was 51.4 per cent), these represent declines of 8.3 and 7.5 percentage points, respectively. Analysts have ascribed the low turnout to various factors, including public distrust of electoral processes and institutions, the inflation of the voter’s roll with non-existent ‘ghost’ voters and, in the case of Cabo Delgado, the ongoing insecurity in the province.

Sources: Comissão Nacional de Eleições, International IDEA, Club of Mozambique, International Crisis Group, CIVICUS, Mozambique Political Process Bulletin, Al Jazeera, Centro de Integridade Pública