Mozambique’s opposition leader, Venâncio Mondlane, has returned to the country from self-imposed exile, saying he was ready for talks with the government after claiming October’s elections were stolen from him.
In large dark sunglasses, Mondlane dropped to his knees as he exited the arrivals door of Maputo’s international airport and appeared to be praying. He spoke to journalists outside, wearing a fake flower garland, before his car edged through crowds of cheering supporters.
Mozambique has been beset by protests since the 9 October presidential and parliamentary votes, which Mondlane and his allied party Podemos said they had won. More than 280 people have been killed by security forces, according to the Centre for Public Integrity, a local monitoring group.
“I had to break this narrative that I was absent because of my own will,” Mondlane told reporters in comments that were also broadcast live on his Facebook page. “So I’m here present, I’m here in the flesh, I’m here to say that if they want to negotiate, if you want to talk to me, if you want to sit down for a discussion, I’m here.”
The charismatic populist said he had also returned to witness what he labelled a “silent genocide” of his supporters and to defend himself against charges that he was culpable for damage caused during the protests.
Daniel Chapo, the candidate for Frelimo, the party that has ruled Mozambique since independence from Portugal in 1975, is due to be sworn in as president on 15 January.
On 23 December, the country’s top court declared Chapo secured 65.2% of the vote, which triggered another wave of protests by supporters of Mondlane, who the court said won 24.2% of the vote.
Election observers have said there was evidence of vote rigging, but some analysts have cautioned that Frelimo may still have won without any manipulation.
The outgoing president, Felipe Nyusi, called for talks with Mondlane in November and said in December that they had spoken by phone.
after newsletter promotion
Mondlane previously said he had left Mozambique for an undisclosed location for fear of being assassinated. On 19 October, two of his allies, Elvino Dias, a lawyer, and Paulo Guambe, a film-maker and Podemos official, were shot dead by unknown attackers.
No one has been arrested for the killings, which human rights researchers say fits a pattern of targeted killings of opposition figures without anyone being brought to justice.
