By Ricardo Dias
Maputo (Moztimes) – The Secretary for Mobilisation of the PODEMOS party, in Mocuba district, in Zambézia province, was murdered with a shot to the head on Sunday, according to a release from the party.
The victim was Eugénio Raúl Madeira, killed near his home at night, while he was working as a motorbike-taxi driver.
This murder of a member of the party, which came second in the recent parliamentary elections, took place just 24 hours before the declaration of the definitive results from the elections held on 9 October, scheduled for this Monday.
Zambézia province, in central Mozambique, has been the epicentre of violent protests against the election results. In the districts of Inhassunge, Morrumbala and Ile, demonstrators attacked prisons and released their inmates. In Mocuba, the protests against the election results culminated in the destruction of the local FRELIMO office.
This is the second time that members of PODEMOS have been murdered since the elections of 9 October. Elvino Dias and Paulo Guambe, the lawyer and election agent of PODEMOS, which was the main party supporting presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane, were killed in a double murder in central Maputo on 19 November.
Mondlane, who opposes the results of the general elections, says that he has suffered harassment and assassination attempts. He is now outside the country, hiding in an undisclosed location, since he was attacked by the police in October.
Mondlane rejects the results which claimed that Frelimo, in power since 1975, and its presidential candidate, Daniel Chapo, won the elections with 70 per cent of the vote. The results should be announced this Monday amidst great political tension. (RD)
