By Enyichukwu Enemanna
The highest court in Mozambique has upheld the victory of the candidate of the country’s ruling party, Daniel Chapo, in the October presidential election, a development that has sparked fresh protests.
Following the announcement of Daniel Chapo as the winner of the presidential poll in October, a deadly protest broke out, leading to the death of several people and the destruction of property.
The opposition candidate, Venâncio Mondlane, who came second, had alleged rigging, calling on his supporters to march against the electoral outcome.
On Monday, protesters could be heard chanting Mondlane’s name, burning tyres, blocking roads, and throwing stones at police, who swiftly responded with tear gas.
Mondlane, who himself is in exile, had fled the country, accusing the police of threatening behaviour after two of his aides were shot dead in October.
In a social media post at the weekend, the opposition leader warned that there could be a “new popular uprising” if the result was not reversed.
In its ruling, the country’s constitutional court held that Chapo won the election but that the margin was inflated. It, therefore, revised his margin of victory downwards.
Initial results in October indicated that the winner secured a 71% share of the vote to Mondlane’s 20%.
The court, however, ruled that Chapo won with 65% of the votes, while the opposition candidate got 24%.
The ever-busy Maputo was scanty and silent on Monday despite being a working day and festive period. This has been the recurrent scene in the region since the popular demonstrations began on 21 October.
Mondlane, a 50-year-old evangelical pastor, had earlier this month insisted that there was “no way” he could accept the election result, the BBC quoted him as saying.
The electoral commission denied his allegation that the poll was rigged in favour of Chapo of the Frelimo party, which has been in power since independence 49 years ago.
But international election observers have said the vote was flawed, pointing to doctored numbers and other irregularities during the counting process.
The weeks-long demonstrations have led to violent encounters with the police, and at least 110 people have been killed, local monitoring group Plataforma Decide said.
In a message on Sunday to the largely Catholic country, Pope Francis called for dialogue and the pursuit of the common good to prevail.
Mondlane has been speaking to the outgoing President, Filipe Nyusi, but it is not clear what the outcome has been.
