The Portuguese government on Wednesday updated the warning it issued to Portuguese citizens in Mozambique to avoid gatherings and to take extra care with their security, given the social unrest in the country.
“In view of the social instability that has taken place in some Mozambican cities, the recommendation is reiterated for Portuguese citizens in Mozambique to avoid popular gatherings and to maintain extra security precautions,” reads the note from the ministry of foreign affairs, available on the Portuguese Communities Portal.
The notice adds that “for the period between 31 October and 7 November, it is recommended that appropriate precautionary measures be taken in view of the possibility of constraints on access to services and commerce. It is also recommended that any travelling arrangements be duly considered and prepared.”
The ministry adds that, in case of need, these Portuguese can contact the consular emergency numbers of the Consulates General of Portugal in Beira and Maputo, as well as the Consular Emergency Office in Portugal.
A similar alert was published today by the Portuguese School of Mozambique (EPM-CELP) on its Facebook page.
Citing “security reasons”, the EPM-CELP announces that all its services will be in remote working mode between 31 October and 8 November inclusive.
Classes will be taught online via the Teams platform.
“The management (of the EPM-CELP) will monitor the situation on a daily basis and, if necessary, issue a new statement,” the statement concludes.
Mozambique’s National Electoral Commission (CNE) announced last Thursday the victory of Daniel Chapo, supported by the Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo, the party in power since 1975) in the election for country’s president on 9 October, with 70.67% of the vote.
Venâncio Mondlane, supported by the non-parliamentary Optimist Party for the Development of Mozambique (Podemos), came second with 20.32%, but said he did not recognise these results, which have yet to be validated and proclaimed by the Constitutional Council.
Frelimo also strengthened its parliamentary majority, from 184 to 195 MPs (out of 250), and elected all 10 of the country’s provincial governors.
In addition to Mondlane, the leader of the Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo, currently the largest opposition party), Ossufo Momade, one of the four presidential candidates, said that he did not recognise the election results announced by the CNE and called for the vote to be annulled.
Last Thursday, presidential candidate Lutero Simango, supported by the Democratic Movement of Mozambique (MDM), also rejected the results, considering that they were “forged in the secretariat”, and promised “political and legal action” to restore the “will of the people”.
Mondlane initially called for a “general strike” to protest against the results announced by the CNE, but after the murder of his lawyer Elvino Dias and Paulo Guambe, a member of the Podemos party that supports him, he called his supporters to take to the streets, which led to clashes between demonstrators and the police in various parts of the country, with deaths, injuries and arrests.
The Centre for Public Integrity (CIP), a Mozambican non-governmental organisation that monitors electoral processes, estimates that ten people died, dozens were injured and around 500 were arrested in the context of the protests and clashes during the strike and demonstrations on Thursday and Friday, which followed similar violent clashes on 21 October.
Venâncio Mondlane called for further stoppages and protests for a week from Thursday, culminating in a national demonstration on 7 November in Maputo.
Lusa
