Maputo, 24 Jun (AIM) – The Mozambican Attorney-General’s Office (PGR) has summoned former presidential candidate Venancio Mondlane to a hearing next Friday morning at the PGR headquarters in Maputo.
The summons, dated 20 June, says the purpose of the hearing is “to give additional explanations”, presumably about the demonstrations called by Mondlane following the results of the October 2024 general elections, widely regarded as fraudulent. It does not say whether Mondlane is to be charged with any crime.
The summons warns that, if Mondlane disregards the summons, he will be arrested and will be liable to a fine of between one and five times the monthly national minimum wage.
Meanwhile, the meeting of the Council of State, originally scheduled for Tuesday, has been postponed. No new date has been announced.
The Council of State is a body that advises the President of the Republic. Mondlane has a seat on the Council because of his status as runner-up in the October presidential election.
Mondlane had used his Facebook page to consult his supporters, asking them whether he should attend the Council meeting. Of the 10,605 people who responded, 87 per cent said he should attend, and only 13 per cent favoured a boycott.
Mondlane also announced that he intends to take to the Mozambican parliament, the Assembly of the Republic, a proposal to set up a parliamentary Commission of Inquiry to investigate the alleged mismanagement of the agricultural programme Sustenta.
Sustenta was the flagship programme of the Agriculture Ministry of the previous government under the then President, Filipe Nyusi. But, to the astonishment of journalists, the new Agriculture Minister, Roberto Albino, has claimed he knows nothing about Sustenta.
(AIM)
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