Police shot dead a 35-year-old father of three today in Matola, Mozambique’s largest city, in a crackdown on a demonstration marking so-called “Heroes’ Day”, announced by the de facto leader of Mozambique’s political opposition, Venâncio Mondlane.
Arlindo Vasco Cumbe was part of a group marching near the N4 highway in the Casa Branca area, when riot police fired live bullets and tear gas at them, including Zitamar’s correspondent on the scene. The police then chased Cumbe into the streets and alleyways of the Luis Cabral neighbourhood, ultimately shooting him dead.
Cumbe leaves behind a wife and three children, including including a baby aged just 18 months.
The killing provoked a wave of protests, with demonstrators carrying the body to the middle of the N4 highway after confirming that the victim was dead. The police returned to disperse the group with tear gas. A video circulating on social media shows Arlindo's body lying amid a haze of tear gas. The body was then loaded into a vehicle of the criminal investigation service, Sernic.
Cumbe's death brings the number of fatalities since the October 2024 elections to 361, according to Mozambican NGO Plataforma Decide.
Police gunfire caused further injuries, and tear gas canisters damaged homes in the Casa Branca area. A video circulating on social media shows women lying on the ground in their homes after fainting, while children cry.
The cities of Maputo and Matola were the most affected by the unofficial public holiday, with some roads blocked and schools and shops closed. There was little traffic and the few people who did go out faced serious difficulties catching the bus.
The ‘real Heroes’ Day
Mozambique officially celebrates Heroes' Day on 3 February, which commemorates the soldiers who died fighting in the War of Independence. Critics claim that such heroes are only people linked to the ruling party Frelimo.
Mondlane announced another Heroes' Day should be celebrated on 18 March, the date police violently dispersed peaceful demonstrators paying homage to the so-called “people's rapper” Azagaia in 2023, who had died earlier that month. Many people were shot, beaten and arbitrarily detained.
Yesterday, the human rights organisation Amnesty International called on Mozambican authorities to ensure justice for Inocêncio Manhique, shot in the eye with a rubber bullet during the demonstration in March 2023. Manhique's case is “emblematic of the impunity that security forces enjoy in Mozambique”, Amnesty said.
The police violence against Manhique and others was followed by several protests, including spontaneous demonstrations without permission from the authorities, which were widely broadcast on social media. The participants, many of whom were young people, called themselves the “18 March generation”.
