At least four municipal buses, six private vehicles and two tractors have been destroyed in recent days in Maputo, in the violent post-election demonstrations in the capital, as well as public buildings, the mayor of the Mozambican capital, Razaque Manhique, revealed this Sunday.
‘These episodes have caused considerable damage to our heritage and inconvenience for all residents. The destruction of essential infrastructure affects the daily lives of our citizens, jeopardises the functioning of the city and represents a setback in the development efforts that we have implemented with so much commitment and effort,’ said the mayor, at the ceremony that this Sunday marked the 137th anniversary of Maputo’s elevation to city status.
He pointed out that Maputo ‘has been the scene of violent demonstrations, which have resulted in the destruction of public and private property,’ including the burning of municipal and state buildings.
He added that ‘preliminary data’ indicates that at least six private vehicles and two tractors ‘were totally destroyed after being set on fire during the demonstrations’, vandalisations that ‘will compromise urban mobility and solid waste collection’ in the city.
‘There are 15 traffic light posts at signalised intersections that have been vandalised, several bus stop shelters and car shelters, four buses from the Maputo Transport Company have not escaped this action either (…) we have 52 solid waste containers completely destroyed throughout our city. We have a vast expanse of road network damaged by burning tyres,’ he added.
Razaque Manhique recognised that the demonstrations ‘arise from anxieties and challenges’ that young people in particular ‘face on a daily basis’, but called on ‘everyone to express their concerns peacefully and constructively’.
‘In response to these events, the Maputo City Council reaffirms its commitment to the reconstruction of damaged property and the restoration of essential infrastructure for the full functioning of our city’ in order to “return the city of Maputo to the dignity and functionality it deserves,” Manhique assured.
The announcement by Mozambique’s National Electoral Commission (CNE) on 24 October of the results of the 9 October elections, in which it awarded victory to Daniel Chapo, supported by the Mozambican Liberation Front (Frelimo, the party in power since 1975) in the election for Mozambican President, with 70.67% of the votes , sparked popular protests called by presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane.
According to the CNE, Mondlane came second with 20.32%, but the latter said he did not recognise the results, which still have to be validated and proclaimed by the Constitutional Council, which has no deadlines for this and is still analysing the dispute.
After street protests that brought the country to a standstill on 21, 24 and 25 October, Mondlane once again called on the population for a seven-day general strike from 31 October, with nationwide protests and a demonstration in Maputo on Thursday 7 November, which caused chaos in the capital, with several barricades, burning tyres and police firing shots and tear gas throughout the day to disperse them.
Venâncio Mondlane announced on Thursday that the protests would continue until the electoral truth was restored.
At least three people were killed and 66 injured during clashes between demonstrators and the police on Thursday, the eighth day of the strikes called by Venâncio Mondlane, announced Maputo Central Hospital (HCM), the country’s largest health centre.
‘In all our entrance doors we had a cumulative of 138 admissions, of which the adult emergency department had 101 patients. Of the 101 patients, 66 were victims of these manifestations and the rest were due to other causes,’ said the director of the Adult Emergency Service at HCM, Dino Lopes.
Jornal de Negócios
