Ambiente calmo e tranquilo na cidade de Chimoio
Chimoio (Mozambique), 8 Nov (AIM) – While clashes between police and anti-government demonstrators raged on the streets of Maputo on Thursday, the situation in other major cities, such as Chimoio and Beira was calmer, but far from trouble-free.
In Chimoio, early in the morning, groups of young men set fire to tyres and erected barricades on the public highway in the Nhamaonha and Francisco Manyhanga neighbourhoods. The police opened fire to disperse groups of demonstrators.
All the markets in central Chimoio were closed, as were most of the shops. Few people ventured onto the streets, but a heavy police presence allowed some of the city’s restaurants to open.
Many private schools did not open for reasons of security – but in public schools, pupils had classes and final examinations for the year were held.
Buses and mini-buses took to the Chimoio streets, but found few passengers. A minibus that normally fills up in ten or 15 minutes was now taking up to 90 minutes before there were enough passengers to make the journey worthwhile for its owner.
As a result, the buses were pulled off the roads early. By 17.00 there were no buses at the main terminals to take passengers to the outlying Chimoio neighbourhoods.
The police claimed all was well throughout Manica province. The head if public relations for the Manica Provincial Police Command, Mouzinho Manasse, told AIM “the information we are receiving from the districts is that everything is in order. So far we have had no information about any alteration in public order in our province”.
In Beira, all the major opposition parties came together on Wednesday for a march through the city against election results regarded as fraudulent. The Mozambique Democratic Movement (MDM), which currently runs Beira Municipal Council, worked with Renamo, Podemos, and the Renamo splinter group, RD (Democratic Revolution), to show that they were united in opposition to the way that the election management bodies had handled the election results.
Jose Domingos, who had been MDM candidate for governor of Sofala province, accused the National Elections Commission (CNE) of falsifying polling station minutes and results sheets (“editais”).
The opposition march passed off without incident. The police made no attempt to prevent it.
Also on Wednesday, Beira health professionals stopped their work briefly to hold their own march through the streets demanding an end to the post-election violence. They argued that the violence is suffocating the health service and endangering human rights.
(AIM)
Nm/pf (414)
