By JOHANNESBURG, South Africa – Gunmen killed a Mozambican opposition lawyer and a party official after firing multiple rounds at the car they were traveling in on Saturday, rights groups said. The attack has heightened tensions ahead of planned protests against a disputed election result.
The newly formed opposition party Podemos and its presidential candidate, Venancio Mondlane, have rejected provisional results showing a likely win for Frelimo, the party that has ruled Mozambique for nearly half a century, and its candidate, Daniel Chapo. They have called for a nationwide strike on Monday.
The Mozambican civil society election observer group, More Integrity, said the attack happened in the Bairro Da Coop neighborhood of the capital, Maputo, killing Podemos lawyer Elvino Dias and party representative Paulo Guambe.
Human Rights Watch and Mozambique’s Center for Democracy and Human Rights (CDD) also confirmed the attack in separate statements.
“They were brutally assassinated in a cold-blooded murder,” Adriano Nuvunga, the director of CDD, told Reuters over the phone.
Supporters take part in a ruling party rally to support presidential candidate Daniel Chapo ahead of elections, in Maputo, Mozambique, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024.
“The indications are that around 10 to 15 bullets were fired, and they died instantly,” he added, describing the attack as a “message” to opposition protesters planning to gather on Monday.
Both the European Union and Portugal, Mozambique’s former colonial ruler, condemned the killings and called for a thorough investigation.
Later in the evening, Frelimo’s candidate Daniel Chapo condemned the attack as an “affront to the principles of democracy that we must all defend.” Mondlane’s rise to become Mozambique’s main challenger posed a threat not only to Frelimo but also to the former official opposition party, Renamo, a group that was once a rebel movement backed by racist white regimes in South Africa and Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) during the Cold War.
Daniel Chapo, presidential candidate of the ruling Frelimo party casts his vote during the general elections at Inhambane, in the southern Mozambique, October 9, 2024. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko.
Alex Vines, Africa program director at Chatham House, an international affairs think tank based in London, described the killings as a “serious escalation” that raised tensions ahead of Monday’s strike. Western observers have cast doubts on the credibility of the poll, citing reports of vote-buying, intimidation, inflated voter rolls, and poor transparency in the collation of results—problems that have plagued Mozambique’s elections since Frelimo introduced democracy in 1994 after two decades in power.
Full election results are expected on October 24, but there are fears that Monday’s protest could turn bloody. Rights groups said Mozambique’s security forces have opened fire on protesters in the past, including after last year’s local elections.
Independent candidate Venancio Mondlane, right, casts his vote in general elections in Maputo, Mozambique, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. Carlos Equelo, AP.
