For the past three weeks, the streets of Maputo, Mozambique's capital, and other major cities have been consumed by protests against the ruling Frelimo party and the electoral fraud that, according to EU observers and the opposition, is securing its continued dominance following the 9 October elections. Estacio Valoi, a Mozambican investigative journalist and member of ZAM's partner Network of African Investigative Reporters and Editors (NAIRE), left his country to attend the African Investigative Journalism Conference in Johannesburg, South Africa, at the end of October. Upon his return, he discovered that the protests, which had already begun before his departure, had intensified significantly. He shared his experience with ZAM in an interview from his hometown of Pemba in the north.
What is the difference in the situation from before you left and after you returned?
Before I left, there were already anti-Frelimo marches. Minibus taxi drivers in the cities were refusing to take passengers with Frelimo T-shirts. They’d tell them they could not enter, or if they managed to get in, they would stop and tell them to get out. But now, no Frelimo party member or official can wear Frelimo insignia or even go out anywhere, especially not in the capital, Maputo. They may even be beaten. The main avenues, Vladimir Lenin and Eduardo Mondlane in Maputo, have been crowded with thousands of protesters and people banging spoons on pots to indicate social injustice and poverty. On one occasion, when the presidential convoy passed by, just five minutes from the presidency, the banging of the pots was everywhere. It was like an orchestra, with the sound spreading into the president’s ear. At the university, a statue of the president was torn down. Protesters took off the head and other parts and stepped on them. People were walking around town with the head, chanting "out." It’s not just about elections anymore.
What has the government’s response been?
Police and security force units have tried to stop protesters from reaching city centres. These blockades are massive, with armoured vehicles and security forces carrying AK-47s. It is like they are there to fight Al Shabab in Cabo Delgado (the northern province where terrorist militia operate) instead of facing people simply demanding human rights. But people still advance, even walking over grass, through water, and mud. They run and hide as police use tear gas, rubber bullets, and even live bullets. We have seen the Presidential Protection Guard firing live rounds from their high-speed black vehicles. This happened just a five-minute walk from the presidency, where black cars from the president’s convoy drove down Julius Nyerere Avenue, shooting at people running to hide around building corners. We have also seen plainclothes police mixing with crowds and doing the same. According to the opposition, 34 people are dead.
But some protestors are not peaceful. During the protests, fires have been set to rubbish bins and tyres in the streets, particularly in parts of central Maputo where government buildings are located.
Yes, the fight has been on, but the security forces were the first to start using teargas and rubber bullets. Undercover police and other security personnel have been entering buildings where, on November 7th—the day of a general strike called by the opposition—residents placed bottles of water on the roads in front of their flats to support the demonstrators. The police conducted raids there, house by house, while people shouted at them to leave. The main avenues were shrouded in black smoke, a scene previously seen only during isolated protests in poorer areas. On the outskirts, residents from the impoverished townships of Polana Caniço and Maxaquene have transformed roads that separate them from the city centre, like Joaquim Chissano Avenue and Angola Avenue, into what they call "free zones"—spaces resembling football fields where people gather to protest.
The government has called protestors ‘marginals’ and ‘ thieves’, because shops have been looted.
Yes, shops in the city centre, including Vodacom and other electronics stores, have been looted. However, numerous videos also show soldiers and the Police Intervention Unit engaging in looting. People have been recording these things.
At some point, for three or four days, when the protests were starting to grow, the government blocked the internet.
I was without social media for days. They blocked the internet to prevent people from sharing information, exposing what is happening, and alerting each other to gather. It’s another method of suppression, aimed at stopping people from mobilizing. But we adapted, learning to use VPNs. We are circulating information freely once again.
Have there been no attempts by the government to restore peace, other than through suppression by security forces?
Former President Chissano has been brought forward by Frelimo in this effort. He has urged the public to remain peaceful and await the verdict of the Constitutional Council, which is currently reviewing over 300 fraud reports submitted by the opposition and EU observers. The Council has, in fact, confirmed that the National Electoral Committee (CNE) committed fraud and has initiated proceedings against it.
So why have people not been waiting for the result of this process?
We don't trust. We know Chissano; he has simply been taking care of his children and family since leaving the presidency. The fraud has existed since his time. He tells us to trust these institutions, but we cannot. They have all been captured by Frelimo and have no credibility. It’s one thing to have a process against the CNE, but at the end of the day, they have not declared (opposition leader) Venancio Mondlane the winner. We are not placing our hopes in that game.
Have there been no other official statements?
No, the protestors are simply being vilified. Former Foreign Minister Alcina Abreu appeared in a video, claiming that the protestors are ‘foreign forces’ intent on stirring up trouble and exploiting our natural resources. I don't understand why she didn’t take that speech and direct it to Frelimo, telling them, “This speech is for you, not for the demonstrators.”
Why?
Because when Alcina Abreu speaks about the foreign forces that take all the resources, she is referring to the findings from our investigations in Mozambique, where we documented the plunder of timber, gold, rubies, fish, and more. Our research revealed that many, if not all, of the minerals, licenses, and business contracts are controlled by members of the Mozambican Frelimo party. This small elite, throughout our years of independence, has failed to share this wealth with the Mozambican people. The only foreign force, in fact, is them—Frelimo—who, together with multinationals, have been looting Mozambique. These are the individuals with luxury cars and multimillion-dollar contracts, including those with companies like Total. These same people, allied with Rwanda’s army, have been complicit in the killing of civilians (1). That is why the current situation is not only about elections, which have been rigged since 1994, but also about socioeconomic issues and social justice.
The elections were on 9 October. But the protests only really took off ten days later, after two members of the opposition were murdered. Elvino Dias, a human rights lawyer and advisor to opposition leader Venancio Mondlane, and fellow lawyer and opposition party member Paulo Guambe were gunned down in Maputo, with 25 shots fired into their car in the early hours of Saturday 19 October.
The protests began earlier, but at that time, there were still no large crowds on the streets. After the murders, it erupted.
People believe it was the state security forces who did that. But can we be sure?
Dias had received threats. He had stated that he was told by security force insiders that he was going to be gunned down, and Venancio Mondlane as well. The threats and warnings were even published on Facebook. They were advised to leave Mozambique, but they refused, declaring, "This is our country, we love this country." The style of the murders is also what we know from the National Investigations Service (SERNIC)—this is how they operate.
These (regime) people have lost all hope; they no longer care about the consequences of their actions. The dictatorship became more brutal over the last ten years under President Nyusi’s rule. The only thing they know is violence and intimidation. I think they expected the murders to intimidate the people again, just as they did after the last municipal elections, which were also rigged, when they used violence to intimidate the people. They did not expect such a reaction. They did not expect the protests to last to the point where we now demand power.
There were fears that trade and the economy would suffer more when even border posts between Mozambique and South Africa were closed due to the violence.
South African TV inquired about the blockades at the border in Ressano Garcia and Komatipoort, asking about their potential economic impact. My response was that we have been living in extreme poverty for decades, without adequate public education or employment opportunities. We can endure for five more days under these conditions.
They are open again now and protests seem to have subsided whilst people await the feedback from the Constitutional Council. Will they start again if the opposition is not declared the winner?
I expect it will start again. The president is nowhere to be seen. The Ministers of Labour and Finance have been reported to be monitoring Venancio Mondlane’s statements on Facebook before they dare leave their houses. The streets are deserted now, but they don’t know where they are going to find demonstrators waiting for them. So it seems like Mondlane is already running the country by mobile phone. Mozambique has no government now.
Can the opposition take over and run a well-managed developmental state?
Besides political opposition, we also have millions of Mozambican citizens—many of whom are capable individuals who can contribute to a new process and effectively govern Mozambique. Even within the government, there are skilled civil servants who are prepared to take on these roles. I am optimistic because other political parties are now joining the protests, coming together with Mondlane and the Podemos party. If they unite, they have the potential to govern Mozambique properly and effectively.
- Rwandan military have been deployed in Mozambique as ‘peacekeepers’, initially to fight insurgents in the north, but some reports say they have also been seen in Maputo, assisting local security forces in their efforts to quell the protests. Both Rwanda and the EU have denied that there are Rwandese troops in Maputo. Opposition leader Venancio Mondlane has, however, asked people to post demands that Rwanda leave Mozambique on Rwandan President Paul Kagame’s Facebook page.
- Update: On 18 November 2024, the EU decided to fund the Rwandan army's Mozambican peace keeping operations with another Eur 20 million, see https://democracyinafrica.org/the-bad-politics-behind-the-new-eu-e20-million-for-rwanda/.
