Maputo, 3 Sep (AIM) – A delegate from the Democratic Alliance Coalition (CAD), in Tambara district, in the central Mozambican province of Manica, was supposedly threatened with death after refusing a bribe of 100,000 Meticais (1,500 dollars at the current exchange rate) to join the ruling Frelimo party in the campaign for the presidential, parliamentary and provincial elections scheduled for 9 October.
CAD is the organisation that was backing the independent presidential candidate, Venancio Mondlane, before its lists of parliamentary and provincial candidates were rejected by the Constitutional Council, the country’s highest body in matters of constitutional and electoral law. Mondlane is now backed by Podemos (Optimistic Party for the Development of Mozambique) and the Tambara CAD delegate has also joined Podemos.
According to the anti-corruption NGO, the Centre for Public Integrity (CIP), in its Bulletin on the elections, the CAD delegate was told that, if he did not accept the bribe, his days were numbered.
According to CIP’s sources, that same day, at around 23.00, armed men came to his house, but he was absent. His neighbors confirmed the unwelcome visit.
The story is suspicious, since 100,000 meticais seems an extraordinarily large sum to offer a person to change his party allegiance. Citizens regularly switch from one party to another, particularly during election periods, and AIM has never previously heard of large bribes being offered for such a normal event.
More serious, and certainly real, was a violent attack in Mecuburi district, in the northern province of Nampula, in which an alleged member of Frelimo was stabbed by a man who is believed to be from Renamo, the country’s largest opposition party. According to the victim, the incident occurred when the two parties (Frelimo and Renamo) crossed paths. After the incident, the man accused of the assault fled, and the victim is receiving medical treatment at a health centre in the Muite administrative post.
CIP also noted that the first week of the election campaign was characterised by the forced absence of staff of the public administration from their workplaces to support the Frelimo election campaign.
For example, schools in the town of Namapa, in Eráti district, Nampula province, were closed due to the involvement of many teachers in the Frelimo campaign.
Similarly, pupils from the primary and secondary schools in Zembe administrative post, Manica province,told CIP they are not attending any classes because of the absence of the teachers. Some teachers confirmed that this is happening and said they are obliged to be involved in the Frelimo campaign.
(AIM)
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