Mozambique protests turn violent over disputed vote
Protesters from the Maxaquene neighborhood gather during a demonstration in Maputo on October 24, 2024. Daniel Chapo, a 47-year-old former provincial governor, will be Mozambique's next president, the electoral commission announced on October 24, 2024, more than two weeks after the October 9 vote was contested in the streets and marred by numerous irregularities according to observers. When his victory was announced, hundreds of demonstrators protesting against fraud, described as "gross" by the Catholic Church, headed to the center of the capital where the electoral commission was delivering the results. The police force blocking their path tried to disperse them with tear gas on an avenue in the capital Maputo where tires were set on fire, election signs torn up and projectiles thrown at the police, an AFP team observed. (Photo by Alfredo ZUNIGA / AFP)
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(AFP) - The Mozambican capital Maputo awoke to wreckage on Friday as protests overnight turned violent following ruling party Frelimo's re-election after 49 years in power.
Hundreds of opposition supporters demonstrated, rejecting what they called a ballot "stolen" by a "corrupt" electoral commission, which on Thursday announced candidate Daniel Chapo had won the October 9 election with 71 percent of the vote.
As the election authority, widely accused of acting in favour of Frelimo, was announcing the results, crowds gathered in multiple cities.
Protests escalated, with rioters setting fire to tyres to block avenues in Maputo and scaling Frelimo's election billboards and destroying them.
Some also threw stones at anti-riot police, who fired tear gas to disperse them, an AFP reporter witnessed.
Chapo, a 47-year-old former provincial governor with no experience in national government, was little known before his surprise nomination as candidate for the ruling Frelimo party. He will take over from President Filipe Nyusi in January.
Opposition leader Venancio Mondlane, has who declared himself the winner and claimed irregularities, officially won just over 20 percent.
"We absolutely reject these results," said Mondlane, who has urged demonstrations, during a Facebook live broadcast Thursday evening.
"They do not reflect the will of the people," he added, calling the political situation in the southern African country "rotten, doctored and fake".
A European Union poll observer mission earlier this month noted "irregularities during counting" and "net favouritism" in favour of Frelimo.
© Agence France-Presse
