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Post-Election Tension: Mondlane’s Return in Mozambique ‘Raises’ Military Surveillance at Accesse Points to Maputo International Airport

Post-Election Tension: Mondlane’s Return in Mozambique ‘Raises’ Military Surveillance at Accesse Points to Maputo International Airport

Access to Maputo International Airport has been restricted by the police since the early hours of Thursday 9 January. Shots have been heard at the airport and some accesses, as well as being blocked, have been heavily guarded, including by military personnel.

The situation comes after the announcement of the arrival of Podemos presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane in Mozambique, after more than two months since he fled the country for security reasons in protest at the results of the general elections on 9 October.

During Diário Económico’s tour, it was possible to see that vehicles on the access roads to the airport are being controlled by the police and prevented from travelling inland. There is a massive presence of supporters and sympathisers of Mondlane, who, despite the bad weather that has been felt in Maputo city since Wednesday 8 January, did not miss the opportunity to go to the airport to welcome the politician.

As recommended by Mondlane, who is due to land in Maputo at 8.05am (Mozambican time), his supporters are dressed in black and white, with placards, whistles and vuvuzelas. However, to keep the crowd away, the police started firing tear gas, and a direct confrontation between the parties is expected.

So far, it is unclear what events are planned for today and what can really be expected, given that Mondlane is facing several criminal charges for inciting the violent demonstrations that have been taking place in the country since 21 October and which have caused material damage and several deaths.

Mondlane in the courts. But the Public Prosecutor’s Office has opened proceedings against the presidential candidate as the moral author of demonstrations that, in Maputo province alone, are said to have caused damage due to the destruction of public infrastructure.

On Sunday 5 January, as well as announcing his return, Mondlane invited his supporters to come and see him and even said: ‘I would like to invite the President of the Republic himself, the Attorney General, the President of the Constitutional Council and the President of the Supreme Court to come and see me’. This, of course, is unlikely to happen.

Venâncio Mondlane has been out of Mozambique since 21 October, when the post-election demonstrations of 9 October were unleashed. According to the arrivals list of the flights scheduled for today, he is due to be taken on Qatar Airways flight QR1375, from Doha International Airport, Qatar.

Mozambique has been the scene of demonstrations organised by supporters of the opposition candidate, who are contesting the results released by the Constitutional Council. Civil society organisations say that clashes between demonstrators and security forces have resulted in almost 300 deaths and around 600 injured.

The Constitutional Council (CC) proclaimed Daniel Chapo, the candidate supported by the ruling Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (Frelimo), as the winner of the election for President of the Republic, with 65.17 per cent of the votes, succeeding Filipe Nyusi in office, as well as the victory of Frelimo, which retained its parliamentary majority.

The announcement sparked new chaos across the country, with pro-Venâncio Mondlane demonstrators – who won just 24 per cent of the vote – taking to the streets, setting up barricades, looting and clashing with the police, who have been firing shots in an attempt to restore order.

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