Maputo, 24 Feb (AIM) – A group of rioters on Monday afternoon destroyed and burned down the offices of Mozambique’s ruling Frelimo party in Morrumbene district, in the southern province of Inhambane.
According to eye-witnesses, who spoke to AIM by telephone, the rioters also used heavy objects to block the country’s main north-south highway (EN1). They were demanding a reduction in the cost of living and improvements in the basic services provided by the state.
Also on Monday, rioters destroyed the Frelimo offices in Maxixe, the economic capital of Inhambane.
In Morrumbene, the rioters looted shops, and in both Morrumbene and Maxixe schools closed, and public transport ground to a halt. Owners of the minibuses that provide passenger transport took their vehicles off the roads.
According to the independent newssheet “Carta de Mocambique”, a policeman who tried to disperse the rioters in Morrumbene was seriously injured, and is now under medical care in the local hospital.
Initially, protests used as their excuse the results of last October’s general elections, widely regarded as fraudulent. But now the focus of the unrest has moved away from the elections to the cost of living.
The owner of a Morrumbene bar, Alexandre Naife, feared that the rioters would destroy his property. He told “Carta de Mocambique” that he’d never seen anything similar in his life. “They’re looting shops here in Morrumbene. Even children are stealing. I don’t know how this is going to end”, he said.
According to an eye-witness interviewed by AIM, the riots are aimed at pressuring the government to reduce the cost of living “because like this we are no longer living, we are living like animals, everything costs more, and we can’t afford to buy food or pay basic services.”
“We want this to change. Why doesn’t President Chapo invite Venâncio Mondlane [the former presidential candidate who initially called mass demonstrations to protest against the election results to a very serious political debate? Mondlane, right now, is the legitimate representative of the people, especially those who live in poor circumstances”, said one source.
Mondlane claims that he won the presidential elections, but he has not provided the polling station results sheets (“editais”) that could prove his claim.
Some of the sources, when questioned about the motive behind the destruction of Frelimo offices, answered that “our goal is not to destroy anything, but, of course, there are those who take advantage of the moment to loot stores and use violence to in order to discredit our peaceful fight.”
The demonstrations that were called by Mondlane started peacefully but then degenerated into rioting and looting. In clashes between protesters and police, over 300 people were shot dead, and around 750 were seriously injured by gunshots, according to the “Decide” Electoral Platform, a Mozambican NGO that monitors elections.
The whole of Inhambane province, including Maxixe and Morrumbene, used to be considered a Frelimo stronghold.
(AIM)
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