Police fire tear gas in Morrumbene

Maputo, 9 Oct (AIM) – Mozambican police on Tuesday attacked opposition supporters in the district of Morrumbene, in the southern province of Inhambane, according to a report in the latest issue of the election bulletin published by the anti-corruption NGO, the Centre for Public Integrity (CIP).

The confrontation arose because the Morrumbene branch of the Electoral Administration Technical Secretariat (STAE) ignored an instruction from the National Elections Commission (CNE) which ordered that trainers could not automatically become polling station staff (MMVs).

Morrumbene STAE continued to appoint trainers as polling station chairpersons in outfight defiance of the CNE instruction.

CIP notes that “in many places there was no open competition for election jobs, as required by law”. Instead the ruling Frelimo Party “named trainers and said they should also become polling station chairpersons”.

When Morrumbene STAE on Tuesday made no changes to the list of MMVs, and insisted on dispatching improperly named staff to the polling stations, opposition representatives tried to prevent their cars from leaving.

STAE called in the police, and members of the Rapid Intervention Unit (UIR – the Mozambican equivalent of the riot police) used tear gas to clear the crowd. The STAE vehicles, carrying the illegal MMVs, then set off for the polling stations.

Meanwhile, in several districts, secretive meetings continued at which Frelimo distributed allowances to polling station chairpersons, deputy chairpersons and secretaries.

CIP correspondents report that the illicit “allowances” varied between 10,000 and 30,000 meticais (between 150 and 450 US dollars).

One source in Morrumbala district, in the central province of Zambezia, told CIP that “those who received money were told that Frelimo and its presidential candidate must win with 85 per cent”. They were also told to invalidate votes cast for opposition candidates by adding a mark to the ballot paper to make it look as if the voter had tried to vote for more than one candidate.
(AIM)
Pf/ (319)