By MOZTIMES
Maputo (MOZTIMES) – Mozambican President Daniel Chapo stated on Wednesday, 26 February, during a military parade at the Special Operational Theatre in Afungi, in the northern province of Cabo Delgado, that “since 1994, every time elections end, there is destabilisation (…) our people are killed, vandalism occurs, looting takes place, and at the same time, public and private property is destroyed”.
Chapo’s speech was delivered during his working visit to Cabo Delgado, where he mobilised the Defence and Security Forces (FDS) to combat violent mass protests with the same intensity as they combat terrorism.
Addressing soldiers and members of special police units deployed in Afungi to protect gas exploration projects, Chapo began by stating: “The mission we have is, without a doubt, to ensure and continue to defend our homeland, starting with the defence of our national independence, which was achieved through the National Liberation Struggle that lasted 10 years”.
“This is why we are here—to say that we must continue to defend our national independence, our sovereignty, and above all, our territorial integrity”, he declared,
Chapo then outlined the threats to national independence that the FDS must confront.
“At this moment, there are four main threats to our country. The first is what is happening in the Northern Operational Theatre—terrorism—which you all know emerged after we spent 16 years in a struggle against destabilisation”.
“We achieved peace through an agreement on 4 October 1992. We then began holding elections in 1994, but since 1994, every time elections end, there is destabilisation. And in this destabilisation, our people are killed, vandalism takes place, looting occurs, and at the same time, public and private property is destroyed. Since 1994!”
“But sons of this homeland, like those of you here, have always known how to defend our independence, our nation, and above all, our territorial integrity. It has been 30 years and continues to be 30 years of multiparty democracy”, he said.
In his speech, Daniel Chapo once again equated violent mass unrest by unarmed youth, dissatisfied with Frelimo’s governance, with terrorist attacks in Cabo Delgado, carried out by armed insurgents who kill and behead civilians, with the support of the world’s largest terrorist organisation, the Islamic State.
Chapo stated that the FDS must combat mass protests with the same force used against terrorism. If this were to happen, it would constitute a disproportionate use of force, which is unacceptable in democracies.
However, beyond this comparison, Chapo made factual errors in his speech by stating that “since 1994, every time elections end, there is destabilisation”.
Following the 1994 elections—the first multiparty elections in Mozambique—there was no destabilisation, let alone loss of civilian lives. Afonso Dhlakama, then late president of the former rebel movement Renamo and the presidential candidate defeated by Frelimo’s Joaquim Chissano, contested the election results, alleging fraud.
However, the head of the United Nations mission to Mozambique, Aldo Ajello, descrbed the 1994 elections as “the best ever held in Africa”, and his positive assessment was shared by most observers. Ajello, and other diplomats, persuaded Dhlakama to accept the results, and so Renamo accepted its parliamentary seats, and did not return to war. No destabilisation or loss of life resulted from the electoral dispute.
After the 1999 elections, Renamo supporters held protests contesting the election results, leading to clashes with the police that resulted in fatalities. A key incident was the death of dozens of Renamo members, who suffocated in police cells in Montepuez, Cabo Delgado, in November 2000. They had been detained during violent demonstrations demanding a vote recount.
In 2004, during the election that saw Armando Guebuza replace Joaquim Chissano as President of the Republic, there was no post-election destabilisation, and no vandalism or civilian deaths.
The first significant post-election conflict in Mozambique occurred after the 2009 elections, in which Armando Guebuza was re-elected for a second term. These elections saw Renamo’s worst-ever result at the time, securing only 49 seats in the Mozambican parliament, the Assembly of the Republic.
Dhlakama withdrew from Maputo, first relocating to Nampula. After being attacked by members of the Rapid Intervention Unit (the Mozambican riot police) in Nampula, he fled to the Gorongosa mountains. From there, in 2013—a year before the 2014 general elections—he launched armed attacks against civilian and military targets along the main north-south highway (National Road Number 1), with a particular focus on Sofala province. The attacks later spread to other provinces, including Tete, Nampula, Manica, and Inhambane.
The conflict ended with the signing of the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement in 2014, allowing for that year's general elections, in which Filipe Nyusi was elected as Guebuza’s successor.
Following the 2014 elections, another post-election conflict broke out, initiated by Dhlakama, who refused to recognise the results. Armed attacks against civilian and military targets resumed, concentrated in Sofala and Manica. The conflict only ended with the signing of the Maputo Peace Accord between Filipe Nyusi and Ossufo Momade in 2019, following Dhlakama’s death.
In the 2019 elections, conflict emerged under the leadership of Mariano Nhongo, a military leader loyal to Afonso Dhlakama. Although Nhongo contested Ossufo Momade’s leadership of Renamo, the conflict had electoral motivations, as Nhongo did not recognise Momade as the legitimate Renamo candidate in the 2019 presidential elections, claiming he had been bought off by the ruling Frelimo party.
The mass protests contesting election results, with no military leadership, began in 2023 in response to the results of that year’s municipal elections. These protests have intensified and lasted longer following the 2024 general elections, in which Daniel Chapo was elected President of the Republic, succeeding Filipe Nyusi.
It is thus factually incorrect to state that “since 1994, every time elections end, there is destabilisation. And in this destabilisation, our people are killed, vandalism occurs, looting takes place, and at the same time, public and private property is destroyed”.
Even if Chapo’s statement referred only to general elections (presidential and parliamentary), excluding municipal elections, it must be noted that there was no post-election conflict leading to civilian deaths or vandalism following the 1994 and 2004 elections. (MT)
