Police shoot demonstrators in Angoche

Maputo, 17 Nov (AIM) – The Mozambican police on Thursday shot eight people on a demonstration organized by the main opposition party, Renamo, in the municipality of Angoche, in the northern province of Nampula.

According to a report in the bulletin on the municipal elections and their aftermath, published by the anti-corruption NGO, the Centre for Public Integrity (CIP), one of the demonstrators, Manquinho Mastado, is in a serious condition, and has been transferred to Nampula Central Hospital.

Four of those shot were hospitalized, but two were later discharged.

The clash reportedly started when Renamo demonstrators marched through the streets of Angoche, covering a coffin draped with a cloth bearing the symbols of the ruling Frelimo Party. The police dispersed the demonstrators, seized the coffin, and took it to the Angoche District Police Command.

The demonstrators went to the command to ask the police to return their coffin. It is not yet clear exactly what happened next, but the upshot is that eight people suffered gunshot wounds.

At the other end of the country, in the southern municipality of Marracuene, about 30 kilometres from Maputo city, Renamo threatened a tax strike, unless it is declared the winner of the municipal elections held on 11 October.

This was the first Renamo demonstration in Marracuene since the preliminary results of the elections were announced on 27 October, according to which the ruling Frelimo Party won in 64 of the country’s 65 municipalities.

The Renamo candidate for mayor of Marracuene, Rahil Khan, cited in Friday’s issue of the independent daily “O Pais”, said the purpose of the demonstration was to bring pressure to bear on the Constitutional Council, the country’s highest body in matters of constitutional and electoral law.

Khan said the protests will not stop until “the truth about the elections is restored”.

“Mozambicans don’t support theft and lies”, he stressed. “It’s time to show that Mozambicans love the truth”.

“If nothing changes, we shall decree new measures”, declared Khan. “We shall call on the people not to pay taxes”. He was sure that the refusal to pay taxes would lead to “chaos” in Marracuene.

“We would like no blood to be shed”, said Khan. “We are not in favour of violence, but if we are pushed, we will have no alternative”.

He also threatened that Marracuene would secede from Mozambique, if the Constitutional Council does not declare Renamo the winner in this municipality.

“In the final instance, if they (the Council) don’t change, we shall declare our district a separate state”, declared Khan.

(AIM)

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