In the recent general elections on 9 October, around 95% of the electoral disputes and offences presented to the Mozambican district courts were unsuccessful, according to information provided by the Supreme Court (TS) at a press conference. According to the judge counsellor and spokesperson for the TS, Pedro Nhatitima, only 5% of the cases received were accepted, judged and sent to the Constitutional Council (CC) for analysis.
During the electoral process, the district courts received a total of 305 contentious and unlawful electoral cases, of which 142 were contentious (46 per cent) and 163 unlawful (54 per cent).
Of the contentious cases, only nine appeals, equivalent to 5 per cent of the total, were upheld and went to the CC for final analysis, while the remaining 95 per cent were rejected due to problems such as lack of prior challenge, untimeliness or lack of adequate evidence.
Among the reasons given for the rejection of the majority of appeals was the lack of knowledge of the legal procedures on the part of the political parties and other appellants.
In many cases, the appellants presented general allegations without evidence to support their claims, which made it impossible to proceed with the cases. Even in the cases where the courts carried out additional diligence, it was not possible to confirm the allegations made by the appellants.
According to Judge Nhatitima, ‘the courts faced major limitations in validating the claims, mainly due to the lack of evidence to substantiate the accusations’. The provinces of Sofala, Zambézia and Nampula registered the highest number of appeals, with 27, 26 and 21 cases respectively.
In contrast, the provinces of Maputo, Cabo Delgado and Manica accounted for the lowest numbers, with around three cases each.
As part of the electoral cases tried, 265 citizens were charged, of whom 78 were convicted, 83 acquitted and 104 are still awaiting judgement, with the respective cases still pending in the courts.
Among the parties that submitted the most appeals was Podemos, which submitted 70 appeals, followed by Renamo, with 51 appeals, and the Democratic Movement of Mozambique (MDM), with 15 appeals.
Many of these parties called for the elections to be cancelled or repeated, alleging irregularities at polling stations. However, the district courts explained that this competence lies with the Constitutional Council.
In the few appeals that were accepted, the courts identified irregularities such as discrepancies between the number of voters and ballot papers, excessive distribution of ballot papers to voters and the refusal of the Technical Secretariat for Electoral Administration (STAE) to accept complaints. These cases now go to the Constitutional Council, which will review them and issue the final decisions on the impact of the contentions accepted.
