Candidato presidencial do partido PODEMOS, Venâncio Mondlane, faz um showmicio no bairro Malhampsene na Província de Maputo no âmbito da abertura da campanha eleitoral 2024 . Foto de Santos Vilanculos
Maputo, 9 Sep (AIM) – The mayor of the central Mozambican city of Quelimane, Manuel de Araujo, has accused the independent candidate in the forthcoming presidential election, Venancio Mondlane, of being incapable of governing.
Cited in Monday’s issue of the independent daily “O Pais”, Araujo was responding to an earlier attack by Mondlane on his record as a mayor.
Last week, at a rally in the district of Gurue, in the central province of Zambezia, Mondlane accused Araujo of failing to pay wages to the Quelimane work force.
“There’s a friend of mine who wants to be governor (of Zambezia), but in the little municipality that he governs, he is unable to pay wages”, declared Mondlane. “I even like him, he’s my friend. But first he has to solve the problem of wages”.
Araujo retorted by asking why Mondlane is not mayor of Maputo. “He says he won the elections in Maputo twice, but has he governed? He says he was robbed twice, and so he has been unable to govern Maputo. So do you think he will be able to govern Mozambique?”, he asked.
He suggested that the citizens of Quelimane should “tell him to be humble. I have been governing (as mayor) for 13 years”.
Araujo invited Mondlane to return to Quelimane “to learn how to win an election”, and then learn “how to govern”.
“We are not just teaching Mozambique, we are not just teaching Africa, we are teaching the world how to govern”, he claimed.
Despite this hyperbole, there is no doubt that Araujo is the most successful opposition politician in Mozambique. He first became mayor of Quelimane in a by-election held in 2011, when he was the candidate of the second opposition party, the Mozambique Democratic Movement (MDM). In 2013, in the nationwide municipal elections of that year, Araujo was re-elected, again on the MDM ticket.
He then defected from the MDM to Renamo and won the elections of 2018 and 2023 as the Renamo candidate. Araujo has a massive personal following in Quelimane, as can be seen in the huge crowds that follow him in the current election campaign.
Venancio Mondlane became one of the best-known faces of Renamo when he led the protests against the fraudulent results for last year’s municipal elections, announced by the National Elections Commission (CNE). A parallel count of the votes, suggested that in reality Renamo won in Maputo, and Mondlane should have been declared the new mayor.
Mondlane attempted to challenge Renamo President Ossufo Momade for the leadership of the party – but Momade’s faction saw off this challenge by simply denying Mondlane access to the Renamo congress held in mid-May.
Mondlane reacted by resigning from Renamo and launching his independent campaign for the Presidency, backed by extra-parliamentary parties, of which the most significant is Podemos (Optimistic Party for the Development of Mozambique).
Although Mondlane and Araujo appeared close allies in the fight against the fraudulent municipal election results, Araujo declined to follow Mondlane out of Renamo.
Araujo is now well positioned to become leader of Renamo at the party’s next congress, due in 2029. Thus the probable real prize in the current dispute between Mondlane and Araujo is the future leadership of the Mozambican opposition.
(AIM)
Pf/ (546)
