The Judicial Court of the City of Maputo has ordered the immediate freezing of all bank accounts held by the Partido Optimista para o Desenvolvimento de Moçambique (Podemos) and referred its leadership for criminal prosecution on charges of aggravated disobedience, after the party repeatedly refused to comply with court orders.
The orders in question required Podemos to share state funding and political appointments with the Associação Solidariedade Cívica de Moçambique. The dispute stems from a memorandum of understanding signed between the two organisations ahead of the 2024–25 electoral cycle.
Under the terms of that agreement, Podemos and the Associação Solidariedade Cívica de Moçambique committed to splitting financial resources equally and jointly nominating representatives to bodies including the National Elections Commission and the Council of State. However, the party is alleged to have subsequently managed the funds and appointed representatives without consulting its partner.
Following the alleged breach, preliminary court rulings had already required Podemos to account for the partnership's assets and to refrain from using them unilaterally. After those violations were reportedly repeated, the presiding judge issued a fresh ruling dated 1 September 2026.
"It is important to remind the respondent, given its nature as a political party, that respect for the Constitution of the Republic and other laws is a categorical imperative of the Democratic Rule of Law," the magistrate stated in the ruling.
The judge further invoked Article 215 of the Constitution, which establishes that court decisions are binding on all citizens and legal persons and take precedence over decisions by other authorities: "The decisions of the courts are mandatory for all citizens and other legal persons and prevail over those of other authorities."
Citing Article 387 of the Code of Civil Procedure, the judge ruled that Podemos's non-compliance had been established and ordered the case file forwarded to the Public Prosecutor's Office to initiate criminal proceedings for aggravated disobedience against those responsible for the failure to observe the court's provisional measures.
In addition to the criminal referral, the court ordered all banking institutions in the city to immediately freeze and block all debit operations on any bank accounts held in the name of Podemos, pending further judicial instruction.
"I hereby order that all banking institutions in this jurisdiction be officially notified to proceed immediately with the attachment and blocking of debit operations on all bank accounts held by the respondent, Partido Povo Optimista para o Desenvolvimento de Moçambique, until further instruction by judicial decision," the ruling states.
Podemos is led by Albino Forquilha. Neither the party nor its leadership had issued a public response at the time of reporting.
Source: Diário Económico
Original article: https://www.diarioeconomico.co.mz/2026/09/08/desenvolvimento-2/tribunal-judicial-da-cidade-de-maputo-bloqueia-contas-do-partido-podemos/
