Despite the protests and protests taking place almost everywhere in the country, the president of the Constitutional Council, Lúcia Ribeiro, swore in Daniel Chapo as the fifth President of the Republic of Mozambique on Wednesday 15 January, in a ceremony taking place in Praça da Independência, Maputo city, under heavy security measures.
When it was 11.12am (Mozambican time), Chapo read the oath of office and took the oath to the applause of the guests. Lúcia Ribeiro received the symbols of power from the outgoing President, Filipe Nyusi, and a few minutes later Daniel Chapo was sworn in as the new head of state.
According to the official programme, after the investiture, there will be official speeches, cultural moments, 21 cannon salutes and the review of the Guard of Honour of the Armed Defence Forces of Mozambique by the new commander-in-chief, Daniel Chapo, as well as a military parade.
Chapo was governor of Inhambane province when, in May 2024, he was chosen by the Central Committee to be the ruling party’s candidate to succeed Filipe Nyusi, who had served two terms as President of the Republic.

On 23 December, Chapo, 48, was proclaimed by the Constitutional Council (CC) as the winner of the election for President of the Republic, with 65.17% of the votes. Having graduated in Law from Eduardo Mondlane University in 2000, the new head of state of Mozambique was born in Inhaminga, Sofala province, in the centre of the country, on 6 January 1977, making him the first President born since independence (1975).
The election of Daniel Chapo has been contested in the streets since October, with pro-Mondlane demonstrators – who according to the CC only obtained 24% of the votes, but who claim victory – demanding the ‘restoration of electoral truth’, with barricades, looting and clashes with the police, which have already led to 300 deaths and more than 600 people wounded by gunfire, according to civil society organisations monitoring the process.
Presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane has called for three days of stoppages and demonstrations since Monday, contesting the swearing in of the elected deputies to the Assembly of the Republic and the investiture of the new President of the Republic.
The Presidents of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, and Guinea-Bissau, Umaro Sissoco Embaló, are the only heads of state present at today’s ceremony, with 2,500 guests. They are joined by three vice-presidents – Tanzania, Malawi and Kenya – as well as the prime ministers of Eswatini and Rwanda and eight ministers, including Portugal’s Minister of State and Foreign Affairs, Paulo Rangel.