Good afternoon. Businesses across the city of Maputo were closed this morning, in line with opposition presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane’s call for a general strike lasting one week from today. Zitamar News has also seen many businesses closed in the city of Nampula, though not necessarily a majority, as well as in Pebane, and the strike is likely to be being observed in other major cities. In an apparent move to prevent coordination of the protests and information sharing, WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram have stopped working in Mozambique overnight, and were still not working this morning. Nevertheless, demonstrations were underway in cities like Maputo, Nampula and Tete as this briefing was being written.
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All the other opposition parties have said that they support the strike and peaceful demonstrations which Mondlane has urged in order to contest the disputed election results. All, that is, except Renamo, up to now the second biggest party in parliament but which lost 40 seats according to official results.
