Presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane announced on Tuesday 10 December that he will take office on 15 January, the Agência de Informação de Moçambique reported.
In a live broadcast on his Facebook page, Venâncio Mondlane, calling himself ‘the people’s candidate’, announced that he would be sworn in as Mozambican President but did not say where the ceremony would take place.
He took advantage of his broadcast to continue his campaign of demonstrations, having ordered that all mines in the country be closed by 15 January.
The presidential candidate also ordered that, by 15 January, no one should pay taxes: ‘All tolls will be free. Motorists will be able to pass through the tolls without paying a cent.’
The source reiterated his ban on the Christmas and New Year holidays, pointing out that ‘there will be no festivities although an exception can be made if people want to party in the streets.’
The businessmen met with Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi and asked him to give them more protection. At a press conference after the meeting, the president of the Confederation of Mozambican Economic Associations (CTA), Agostinho Vuma, estimated the losses suffered by private companies as a result of the strikes, demonstrations and riots at 24.8 billion meticals (around 388 million dollars).
The most serious impacts so far, he said, have been in the tourism, catering and other services sectors. ‘The festive season should be a period of great growth for Mozambican tourism – but this year foreign tourists are avoiding Mozambique and most hotel bookings have been cancelled,’ he lamented.
The CTA president also said that the lack of security on the roads had led to a huge queue of lorries from South Africa waiting to enter the Port of Maputo. The source said that the trucks had been stuck for 72 hours in a 20 kilometre queue on the South African side of the border.
The official said that the companies had asked the head of state for ‘a truce’ while negotiations with Mondlane were ongoing.
