In a tragic escalation of political tensions, two senior officials from Mozambique’s opposition party were shot and killed on Saturday, just days before the country’s highly contested election results were set to be announced. The victims, lawyer Elvino Dias and party official Paulo Guambe, were ambushed while traveling in a car in Mozambique’s capital, Maputo. Dias was a legal adviser to Venancio Mondlane, an independent presidential candidate supported by the opposition party PODEMOS.
The killings, confirmed by Mozambique’s Minister of Interior Pascoal Ronda, have sparked outrage both within the country and from the international community. Ronda vowed that authorities would thoroughly investigate the murders and bring those responsible to justice, stating, “The government urges the relevant institutions, particularly the National Criminal Investigation Service and the police of the Republic of Mozambique, to calmly clarify these cases and ensure that their actors are brought to justice.”
The targeted killings come at a time of significant political unrest in Mozambique, as the preliminary results from the October 9 general elections show Daniel Chapo, the presidential candidate for the ruling Frelimo party, leading the polls. Mondlane, Chapo’s main rival, has claimed that the election was marred by widespread fraud and manipulation, and Dias had been preparing to legally challenge the election results before his assassination.
International condemnation followed swiftly after the news of the killings. In a joint statement, the U.S. Embassy, along with the Canadian High Commission, Norwegian Embassy, Swiss Embassy, and the U.K. High Commission, expressed their deep condolences to the families of the victims and strongly condemned the violence.
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Prominent anti-corruption advocate Adriano Nuvunga, who serves as the director of the Center for Democracy and Human Rights in Mozambique, also weighed in on the tragedy, calling it “an attack on democracy.” Nuvunga stressed that these killings were not just a blow to political figures but a broader assault on Mozambique’s democratic values, particularly in the context of the opposition’s fight for electoral justice.
Mondlane had previously called for a nationwide strike on Monday, October 21, to protest what he and his supporters describe as “election rigging.” The loss of his legal adviser Dias is a significant blow to those efforts, but it also underscores the volatile political climate in the country as citizens await the official election results.
As Mozambique grapples with the aftermath of this violence, the coming days will be crucial in determining how the nation navigates the ongoing political crisis. Authorities are under intense pressure to bring the perpetrators to justice, and many are watching closely to see how the government handles this shocking act of political violence.