Mozambique’s national anthem was heard again on Thursday afternoon in Maputo,as in the Maxaquene neighbourhood, where practically no vehicles circulated all day, with dozens of supporters of presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane chanting the song, demanding electoral justice.
“By singing the national anthem we are repudiating, so that the truth is respected, and we will not stop until they restore the truth, because the people chose, the people voted,” said Arminda Ambrósio, 26, as Avenida Vladimir Lenin Avenue, which crosses the entire neighbourhood, was filled with people singing with one voice. “So the people must be respected.
“We’re really tired. And we’re not going to rest until the truth is restored,” he added.
For the second day in a row Orlando Alberto, 25, responded to the call from Mondlane – who has refused to recognise the official results announced for the 9 October general elections – for the anthem to be sung in the streets at 3.30 p.m. for three days until Friday.
“We want the truth,” he said. Because they took our votes, they stole our votes. We want our votes back, we won’t give up without our votes back.”
On the street in Maxaquene, where in recent weeks there have been some of the tensest moments of the post-election demonstrations, including violent clashes with the police, Emílio Maúte, 45, explained why the anthem was being sung with one voice, amid barricades set up along the road, to protest against the electoral process.
“It’s not being transparent for the Mozambican people,” he says, affirming that the protest would continue.
“We won’t accept it,” he said of the official results announcement. “Because we know who we voted for.”
In the background the anthem, sung repeatedly, alternated with shouted criticism of the governing Frelimo party, which has been in power since 1975, and slogans of support for Mondlane.
Criticism was reinforced by Timóteo Vilas-Boas, who argued that the people do not recognise “results fabricated in back rooms” and explaining that this was why the anthem was being belted out by the population.
“In memory, firstly, of our brothers and sisters who were murdered by this regime that we are trying to remove today,” he said. “A regime that does nothing for the country, it only knows how to kill, kidnap, make and unmake.
“I know that there is no revolution without sacrifice, without bloodshed. Even if my blood has to be shed for the sake of this country, I’m open to it,” he added. “Leave Venâncio aside. We, the people, are the ones demanding the right to vote.”
After the anthem, which was sung repeatedly for half an hour throughout the capital, there was again the honking of horns throughout the city, with cars driving around with placards demanding that the “electoral truth” be restored, while many tried to return home at the end of a day marked by barricades set up by demonstrators in Maputo for the second day running.
At least six people were injured, including a young woman run over by a military armoured vehicle, during clashes between demonstrators and police on Wednesday, in protests called by presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane, the Maputo Central Hospital (HCM) announced on Thursday.
On Tuesday, Mondlane had called on people to leave their cars in the streets from 8 a.m. for three days, starting on Wednesday, with election protest posters until they return from work.
Mondlane has been calling for these demonstrations, which have degenerated into clashes with the police and resulted in around 70 deaths and more than 200 injuries, as a way of contesting the awarding of victory to Daniel Chapo, the candidate supported by Frelimo. Chapo is deemed to have received 70.67% of the vote, according to results announced on 24 October by the National Electoral Commission (CNE), which have yet to be validated and proclaimed by the Constitutional Council.
Lusa
