Daniel Chapo says he will be ‘president of all’, calls for ‘non-violence’ after week of protests against vote-rigging.
Published On 27 Dec 2024
Mozambique’s president-elect has called for “non-violence” and “unity” after widespread rioting this week sparked by his governing party’s contested election win.
Daniel Chapo, of the long-governing Frelimo party, said on Friday that he “regretted” the violence, and promised that after his inauguration in mid-January, he would be “the president of all” in the Southern African country, despite opposition claims of widespread vote-rigging.
Chapo’s disputed win in October’s election – which was confirmed by Mozambique’s top court on Monday – prompted a week of unrest, following months of protests.
It has also resulted in thousands of Mozambican citizens fleeing to neighbouring Malawi.
During four days of protests called by opposition leader Venancio Mondlane this week, streets were blocked, and some shops and businesses were looted. Amid the chaos, thousands of inmates also broke free from a prison in Maputo.
Some 134 people were killed in the week of unrest, according to local NGO Plataforma Decide, taking the overall death toll since the elections to at least 261.
Chapo said in his first public statement since the court decision that the worst affected cities were the capital Maputo, neighbouring Matola, the central city of Beira and Nampula in the north.
“These acts only contribute to the decline of the country and the increase in the number of Mozambicans who are heading towards unemployment and poverty,” he said, adding that several police officers died during the clashes.
Frelimo has governed Mozambique since the end of the war against Portuguese colonial rule in 1975.
However, the opposition under Mondlane, which has strong support among Mozambique’s youth population, claimed the Octobe