Presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane announced on Saturday 11 January that he was calling for three days of peaceful demonstrations, to be held from Monday 13, the day of the inauguration of the deputies, to Wednesday 15, the day of the inauguration of the new President (Daniel Chapo), from 8h00 until 17h00. The decision came after an assassination attempt on his team during a trip to the Xipamanine market on Saturday.
Speaking in a live broadcast on his Facebook page, Mondlane reported how men in civilian clothes and without identification opened fire on his team and support material. ‘They started shooting in front of my image staff. They shot at the truck carrying the sound, at the IT equipment, and took mobile phones and computers,’ explained Mondlane, who also showed bullet casings fired during the attack, saying ’look at this. These are real shell casings, intended to take lives.’
‘There’s no judicial mandate, there’s no legal basis, it’s just their will to shoot to kill innocent people,’ added the presidential candidate, calling the situation “state terrorism”. Mondlane also recalled the killing of three young people by the police last Thursday, 9 January, the day he returned to Mozambique. According to him, there was no disturbance or vandalism on the part of the young people, which makes the police action unjustifiable.
In response to the situation, the candidate called on the population to join the demonstrations from Monday to Wednesday. ‘On Monday, we should raise our placards wherever we are to demonstrate our repudiation of the traitors of the people and on Wednesday against the thieves of the people,’ he said.
Finally, Mondlane suggested that citizens print A3 or A4 size posters to put up at demonstrations with the photo of the President they actually voted for, as a way of affirming their democratic choice and showing their dissatisfaction with the election results.
Text: Florence Nhabinde
