Maputo, 9 Feb (AIM) – The re-elected mayor of the central Mozambican city of Quelimane, Manuel de Araujo, on Thursday accused the National Elections Commission (CNE) and its executive body, the Electoral Administration Technical Secretariat (STAE), of acting like a criminal conspiracy to damage the opposition political parties in the municipal elections held on 11 October.
Taking office for a further five year term, Araujo, cited in Friday’s issue of the independent newssheet “Mediafax”, attacked not only the electoral bodies, but the government, the courts and the police, who had attempted, unsuccessfully to deprive him and the main opposition party, Renamo, of their victory.
The attempted fraud in Quelimane came close to success – the CNE announced that the ruling Frelimo Party had won, although a parallel vote count showed a clear victory for Renamo.
The Constitutional Council, the country’s highest body in matters of constitutional and electoral law, reversed the CNE’s decision, recounted the results sheets from the Quelimane polling stations, and declared that Renamo had won a majority in the Municipal Assembly, and, as a result, Araujo had been re-elected mayor.
Araujo attributed this victory to his supporters who had rejected the results proclaimed by the CNE.
“You (the people of Quelimane) had the courage to challenge the system”, he told the ceremony.
“The CNE had stolen the election”, he continued. “Had it not been for the courage of the women of Quelimane, and the tenacity of its young people, we would not be here in this festive occasion.
He reserved particular scorn for the CNE chairperson, Anglican bishop Carlos Matsinhe, comparing him to Judas Iscariot, and calling him “the reverend of the Devil”.
Araujo said that, if the Constitutional Council had not overturned the CNE decision, then nobody would have been able to govern the municipality. The determination of the city’s residents, he argued, had been shown by 44 days of protest against the results announced by the CNE.
Attending the ceremony was Justice Minister Helena Kida, representing President Filipe Nyusi. Araujo interpreted her presence as recognition that justice had been done with his re-election.
Nyusi himself had recognized that “mistakes” had been made during the municipal elections – it was urgent to correct those mistakes, Araujo said, since the country is due to hold presidential, parliamentary and provincial elections in 9 October.
He took the opportunity to tell Kida, that the General Commander of the Mozambican police, Bernadino Rafael, should be sacked, blaming him for the human rights abuses committed by police agents.
Nothing as polemical was said by the other newly elected mayors in their first day in office. In Maputo, mayor Rasaque Manhique promised that his office will just be a place “for contact with documents” – he fully intended to be “a mayor of the street, because that is where the citizens are”.
In his first 60 days, he said, he hoped to work on the crisis in the city’s public transport. “We need to reduce the suffering of citizens at the bus stops, where they are waiting for a decent means of transport”, he declared. “We need to alleviate the suffering of those who are living under the rain waters (a reference to the flooding of low lying parts of Maputo during the rainy season)”.
“It’s painful, but I believe that, with the team we shall put together, we shall all be working in the search for solutions”, said Manhique.
(AIM)
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