AS Mozambique anxiously awaits the results of its tense general election, violence has erupted with the fatal shooting of a prominent opposition lawyer and a senior official. Elvino Dias, lawyer and advisor to opposition presidential candidate Venancio Mondlane, and Paulo Guambe, a senior member and spokesperson for the PODEMOS party, were gunned down in their car in the capital, Maputo, late on Friday night, according to a statement from PODEMOS on Saturday.
The two men were pursued by gunmen in two vehicles before their car was riddled with bullets on a main road in Maputo. The attack is a chilling escalation in the country’s already fraught political atmosphere, as allegations of vote rigging and suppression of dissent have marred the elections.
PODEMOS, a relatively new opposition party that has been challenging the 49-year rule of the ruling Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (Frelimo) party, denounced the killings as evidence of a broader ‘lack of justice’ under the current regime. ‘This is further clear evidence of the lack of justice that we are all subjected to,’ the party said in a statement.
Venancio Mondlane, who ran for president as an independent but was supported by PODEMOS, has accused Frelimo of electoral fraud. The ruling party’s candidate, Daniel Chapo, currently holds a substantial lead in the presidential race, with final results expected to be announced next week. Chapo is projected to succeed outgoing President Filipe Nyusi, who is stepping down after completing his second and final term.
The killings have intensified concerns about the safety of opposition members and the integrity of the electoral process. International observers are closely monitoring the situation as Mozambique continues to grapple with political violence and accusations of corruption within the ruling party.
