Ruling party candidate wins presidential vote in Mozambique

Ruling party candidate Daniel Chapo won Mozambique’s presidential election with over 70% of the vote, according to results released Thursday by Mozambique's National Electoral Commission.

Independent candidate Venancio Mondlane finished second in the Oct. 9 vote with just over 20%. The candidate for Renamo, Mozambique’s traditional main opposition party, finished a distant third with less than 6% of the vote.

The results cement the hold on power the Frelimo Party has maintained since Mozambique won independence in 1975.

Runner-up Mondlane has said the vote was rigged and is calling for two days of national standstill and peaceful protests.

Earlier this week, police fired tear gas on opposition protesters in Maputo. Those protests were sparked by the killing of two prominent opposition members, Elvino Dias and Paulo Guambe, last weekend.

Protester Reginaldo Muchanga told Reuters, "The people chose Mondlane" and asserted that Frelimo doesn't want to give up power to the opposition leader.

The killings of Dias and Guambe were condemned by the embassies of the United States, Canada, Norway, Switzerland and the U.K.

Outgoing Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi also condemned the deaths and said those who believe the killings were politically motivated should not jump to conclusions.

A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department on Thursday called on Mozambicans to reject violence and use peaceful means to pursue electoral grievances.

Prior to the elections, Adriano Nuvunga, a social activist and director of the Center for Democracy and Human Rights in Mozambique, predicted that Frelimo would again claim victory even if there was much enthusiasm for Mondlane.

"The terrain is already prepared, regardless of what we see; the enthusiasm, dynamism of the young people that are rallying behind this opposition candidate, we know the status quo will prevail," Nuvunga told VOA.

Speaking to VOA, a Frelimo member of parliament asserted that the party’s popularity is genuine. "People continue to love and highly consider Frelimo as an option to continue running this country. ... The results will prove, once again, that Frelimo is loved and esteemed by the Mozambican people,” Sergio Pantie said.

While some places in Africa are starting to use the ballot as an agent of change, that's not the case yet in Mozambique, said Kenneth Ombongi, an associate dean in charge of postgraduate studies with the faculty of arts and social sciences at the University of Nairobi.

"That's why you find that in the disputed elections, the opposition is saying it has won, telling the ruling party … if they lost the elections, it was because of so much manipulation from the government. The response in my view, of using the police and violence was more or less expected," Ombongi said.

While observer missions from the European Union and Southern African Development Community, or SADC, have yet to give final assessments of the Oct. 9 election, the EU mission said this week that some of its 179 observers were prevented from observing tabulation processes in some districts and provinces and at the national level.

The EU mission also said its observers witnessed “unjustified alteration” of election results at some polling stations.

Expressing optimism, Kwaku Nuamah, a professor at American University in Washington, said the relative youth of Chapo and Mondlane — ages 47 and 50, respectively — is a good development for Mozambique.

"The youth has arrived in Mozambique, and I think that's a good thing for Africa. …This is the first time we've seen a turnover from the liberationist group in Mozambique. … I hope they bring youthful energy and they focus on issues that are important to young Mozambicans and Africans in general," he said.

He also applauded outgoing president Nyusi for stepping down at the end of the constitutional limit of two terms, something he said is not always the case in Africa.

Nuamah said Mozambique’s new president has many challenges ahead, including poverty and the ongoing security issues in the northeast, where the government has been battling insurgents in the gas- and oil-rich Cabo Delgado province, affecting multibillion-dollar projects. The violence reportedly has killed some 4,000 people and displaced about 1 million since 2017.

"What's going to happen in Cabo Delgado?” Nuamah asked, adding "We've seen the SADC troops leave, and now you have Rwandan and Tanzanian troops there. Are they going to stay? In terms of poverty, what's the plan ahead? The world bank shows Mozambique's real poverty numbers are around 62%. People need jobs, people need some promise, some help from the state."

Ombongi said that the country's wealth in natural resources has not really trickled down to the ordinary Mozambicans.

"The natural gas, the oil, the diamonds, those are not very helpful to the people of Mozambique,” Ombongi said. “They are helpful to the international interest that compete among themselves to harness the resources of this country. This is partially because of the neo-colonial tendencies and partially because of the political elite that is easily bought off by foreign interest."