Chapo warns that rioting will drive more Mozambicans into misery

Maputo, 27 Dec (AIM) – Mozambique’s President-Elect, Daniel Chapo, has broken his silence about the latest wave of post-election violence, warning that the rioting that has swept the country “will only drive the county backwards and push more Mozambicans into unemployment and misery”.

The immediate spark for the latest unrest was the declaration by the Constitutional Council, the country’s highest body in matters of electoral law, that Chapo and the ruling Frelimo Party had won the presidential, parliamentary and provincial elections held on 9 October.

The Council’s ruling was extraordinary, because it admitted that the elections had been marred by fraud, but then claimed this was not significant enough to change the result.

Supporters of the self-exiled presidential candidate, Venancio Mondlane, immediately launched rioting, which he called “Turbo V8”. Roads were blocked, vehicles were set on fire, and several local Frelimo offices were burnt to the ground. The protests over the election result became a cover for widespread looting and destruction.

In his Friday statement, Chapo said that what Mondlane called “demonstrations” had degenerated into a wave of looting and robbery.

The situation was a matter of great concern “because we are losing the human lives that Mozambique needs to develop and to continue affirming itself in the concert of nations”.

He expressed his support for acts of “popular vigilance and the removal or barricades” as a means “for life to return to normal as quickly as possible”.

“For our own security, we are all called upon to cooperate”, said Chapo, but “everything should be done within the law, without violence, and in collaboration with the Defence and Security Forces”.

He praised the Defence and Security Forces who had mitigated the damaging effects of the unrest, sometimes paying with their own lives.

Chapo warned that “looting, vandalism, the destruction of public and private property, and the damage done to road surfaces, are an assault against social harmony, and against our dignity as human beings”.

Looting and destruction, he added, were no solution to the country’s many problems, including terrorist attacks, the quality of education and health services, the shortage of decent public transport, and unemployment.

Chapo warned that the unemployment rate will certainly rise because of the likely bankruptcy of many companies wrecked during the riots.

He expressed solidarity with all businesses, Mozambican and foreign, which have been affected by the unrest. “We shall soon work together in solutions for the problems generated by this sad situation”, promised Chapo.

He concluded with a pledge that he will be the President of all Mozambicans “regardless of race, colour, political option, party membership, educational level, religion or place of birth”.

He would serve them “with a sense of patriotism and ethics, doing everything so that together we can renew Mozambique”.
(AIM)
Pf/ (468)