Riot police open fire on Mondlane supporters

Maputo, 6 Mar (AIM) – Chaos returned to the streets of Maputo on Wednesday afternoon when members of the Rapid Intervention Unit (UIR – the Mozambican riot police) attacked a motorcade of former presidential candidate Venancio Mondlane.

Wherever he goes, Mondlane attracts huge crowds, and Wednesday was no exception. He addressed a rally in Youth Square in the neighbourhood of Magoanine, and then led a peaceful march along Julius Nyerere Avenue towards Combatants Square.

Suddenly, for no apparent reason, the UIR launched tear gas grenades into the crowd, and then opened fire with live ammunition.

The crowd dispersed, and Mondlane himself was hurried away by his security guards to a safe location. But reports of the clash spread through the city, and it was claimed that the UIR had attempted to assassinate Mondlane.

This brought thousands more people out onto the streets. They burnt piles of tyres, and erected barricades on the roads linking the outlying neighbourhoods to the centre of the city.

Public transport ground to a halt and those who were relying on buses or minibuses found that they had to walk to their destinations.

Protesters cited by the independent newsheet “Mediafax”, claimed that the police had declared war.

According to the “Decide” NGO electoral platform, the police shot at least 16 people during the clash. There are claims, not yet confirmed, that two children died.

At the same time as these street battles were raging, at a ceremony elsewhere in the city, President Daniel Chapo and nine political parties were signing “a political commitment to an inclusive national dialogue”.

The police attack on the runner-up in last year’s presidential election looked like a direct challenge to Chapo’s authority. To stage a police riot at the same time as the head of state is speaking about reconciliation indicates either an extraordinary level of incompetence, or a deliberate attempt to derail Chapo’s reform agenda.

But not all the protests were sparked off by Mondlane or by the UIR. Since Monday, there has been unrest in the Machava-Socimol neighbourhood of the southern muncipality of Matola. According to the newsheet “Carta de Mocambique”, these protesters were demonstrating against the poor state of the Matola roads.
(AIM)
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