Maputo, 30 Dec (AIM) – Over 2,500 households from Morrumbala district, in the central Mozambican province of Zambezia, have entered Nsanje district in Malawi in recent days, fleeing the post-election tension, in which over two thousand people have lost their lives, according to the NGO “Decide” Electoral Platform
Since 21 October, the country has been torn by demonstrations called by the presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane, who rejects the decision of the Constitutional Council, the country’s highest body in matters of electoral law, which gave victory to the ruling Frelimo party and its candidate, Daniel Chapo.
Mondlane insists that he won the elections held on 9 October, and he claims that the results announced by the National Electoral Commission (CNE) and the Constitutional Council are based on fraudulent data.
The protests have degenerated into violent riots, including the destruction of public and private infrastructures, road blockades and the looting of stores.
According to the Malawian newsheet “The Times”, the exodus of Mozambicans intensified on the night of December 26, following an escape of prisoners from the jail in Morrumbala district on December 25.
The authorities have confirmed that all the families who have entered Nsanje came from Morrumbala district, after crossing the Shire River.
The Commissioner of the Department for Refugees, General Ignacio Maulana, said that the flow of refugees from Mozambique to Malawi did not take his institution by surprise, as it was already expected.
“All agencies, including the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the World Food Programme (WFP) and the Department of Disaster Management Affairs (DODMA), among others, are on alert [and know] what is happening in Mozambique”, he said.
For his part, the Nsanje District Commissioner (DC), Dominic Mwandira, said that more Mozambicans are expected to enter Malawi.
Nsanje district is in the far south of Malawi. It borders the Mozambican districts of Morrumbala in Zambezia province and Doa and Mutarara in Tete.
The Mozambican refugees are currently sheltering in the communities of Mlolo, Tengani and Mbenje in Nsanje.
“What is challenging is [the availability of] food and other essential items to sustain the Mozambicans. There is an urgent need for food distribution in these areas. The Department of Immigration and Citizenship Services is registering all the Mozambican families that have entered the country”, Mwandira said.
The Malawian press reports that the authorities have set up a camp at Chikonje Primary School in Mlolo and other centres in Tengani and Chazuka.
“Efforts are underway to assess the needs of the affected families and provide them with adequate support”, said Charles Kalemba, Commissioner for Disaster Management Affairs.
As a result of the social upheaval, Zambia and Malawi recently suspended the import of fuel via the central Mozambican port of Beira.
(AIM)
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