The Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo, the largest opposition party) wants to paralyze Maputo today Monday December 11 in protest at the official results of the local elections, and says it is “not responsible” for the consequences for those who don’t stay at home.
“Adherence to this exhortation is voluntary, so declining it is legitimate, but the Renamo party in the city of Maputo is not responsible for any social impacts,” reads the statement from Renamo in the capital, without giving any further explanation of this warning for today.
“As part of the struggle for electoral justice,” Renamo “communicates to all residents, businesspeople, students, workers in the informal sector, residents or users of services in the district of Maputo city” that this Monday “there will be a mega popular protest aimed at repudiating the results presented by the Constitutional Council, called ‘Monday Paralyzed: Maputo Do Electoral Justice'”.
“In this vein, it urges the entire population living in the city of Maputo and its users in general to stay at home,” it adds.
According to Renamo, the aim “is to sensitize the institutions of justice in a peaceful way in order to restore the electoral truth, so we are for the maintenance of a peaceful, orderly environment and a demonstration within the scope of the fundamental rights of citizens”. On November 28, in one of the dozens of marches in Maputo to contest the results announced, hundreds of Renamo supporters once again took to the streets to say that the Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo) “will not govern” the capital, with the party’s candidate, Venâncio Mondlane, calling for the city to be brought to a standstill.