Fighting protests with terrorism

Good afternoon. Law and order has been crumbling in Mozambique in the past few weeks, during the nationwide protests provoked by the contested results of October’s elections. But contrary to what the government would suggest, not all the lawlessness can be blamed on supporters of opposition presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane.

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Lucia Ribeiro, the president of the Constitutional Council, attended this morning’s meeting of the Council of State, an advisory body to the Mozambican president. The meeting was held in order to discuss the nationwide protests sparked by the disputed results of October’s elections, which have led to violence all over the country and over 100 reported deaths. Ribeiro is not a member of the Council of State, but the Constitutional Council has been in the process of checking the vote counts from the elections. The judicial body is responsible for confirming the election results, which it has suggested it plans to do by 23 December.

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In the past few days, hired vigilantes have appeared on the streets, tearing down pro-Mondlane banners in vehicles and dismantling the roadblocks put up by protesters. In some cases, people linked to Frelimo have been seen dealing with them. Their arrival was also announced by a message shared on social media yesterday. A vigilante force confronting the protesters is only going to create more risk of further violence.