daniel chigunwe
Herald Reporters
THE Southern African Development Community (Sadc) has condemned the post-election violence that has gripped Mozambique following the October 9 elections won by the country’s ruling party, Frelimo, the bloc’s Executive Secretary, Mr Elias Magosi, said yesterday.
In his opening remarks at the Sadc Extraordinary Summit held at New Parliament Building in Mount Hampden, Mr Magosi said political parties should never take the route of violence after elections, but raise their grievances through electoral laws.
“We did not expect that election processes could deteriorate to the extent of serious conflict, disruption of economic activity, threat to human lives, and even loss of lives, as well as damage to property and infrastructure,” he said.
“There are appropriate structures under the electoral laws and constitution of member States that deal with complaints and any misgivings about elections.
“We plead with all those that are aggrieved with the election process to follow these lawful procedures and ensure the safety of citizens and the stability of the country.”
The Summit received an update on the post-election political and security situation in Mozambique following the violence that erupted immediately after the elections,
The violence, which is led by Mozambique’s opposition parties, has left over 30 people dead.
In a national address on Tuesday, President Filipe Nyusi invited all presidential candidates to a meeting to “find solutions to the current political impasse”. He added that the post-election violence had “created chaos and fear across the country”.
Interior Minister Pascoal Ronda recently called on Mozambicans to work with authorities to stop the protests, which he has called “acts of terrorism” given that they are blocking people from conducting their daily activities like going to work.
He accused organisers of protests of using “drugged” youths to “destabilise” the country, saying their plans would not succeed as all would be fought.
Frelimo candidate Cde Daniel Chapo won the elections with over 70 percent of the vote while the nearest challenger, Mr Venancio Mondlane, came second with 20 percent of the vote.
Turning to insecurity in the DRC, Mr Magosi said the attainment of “lasting peace” requires complementary response strategies, including multiple political and diplomatic interventions such as the Luanda process, led by President João Lourenço of Angola.
“I believe that we should focus more effort and the limited resources at our disposal, on dialogue between the parties, especially given the financial constraints we have. And, with a great sense of humility, I advocate for Your Excellencies to consider having very robust but intimate and in-camera conversations with those member States experiencing conflict as well as other stakeholders outside our region who are negatively affecting our peace and stability.
“We must work with all these stakeholders to change the narrative, and work towards peace. Peace should be the denominator for all our engagements with these stakeholders. I believe, Your Excellencies, that we can find lasting peace in our region. I believe that we can create a safe and enabling space for dialogue and peace to thrive,” he said.
Mr Magosi added that the region cannot achieve peace and stability by military interventions alone, hence the need to bring feuding parties to the negotiating table.
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