Protests that have led to weeks of clashes with Mozambique’s security forces need to continue for “maybe two to three months”, the country’s opposition leader has told the BBC.
Venâncio Mondlane has been calling on his supporters to protest against the results of October’s presidential elections, in which he came second to the candidate from the governing Frelimo party.
The weeks-long demonstrations have led to violent encounters with the police and at least 67 people have been killed, local monitoring group Plataforma Decide said.
Mondlane, who is now in hiding, told the BBC he thinks pressure from the protests could force Frelimo into negotiations.
“But [they] need to carry on for longer, maybe two to three months, in this same pace,” Mondlane continued.
“The combination of diplomatic contact, protests and international pressure will do it.”
He said there is “no way” he can accept the election result, in which Frelimo’s candidate Daniel Chapo won with a whopping 71% of the vote.
Mondlane, an evangelical pastor who stood as an independent after breaking away from the main opposition Renamo party, got just 20%.
The electoral commission denied Mondlane’s allegation that the poll was rigged in favour of Frelimo, who have been in power since independence 49 years ago.
But international election observers have said the elections were flawed, pointing to doctored numbers and other irregularities during the counting process.
Mondlane spoke to the BBC via video call from an undisclosed location, saying he could not reveal his whereabouts for safety reasons.
He disappeared from public view on 20 October – prior to the election results being released – accusing the police of threatening behaviour not long after two of his aides were shot dead.
At one point, Mondlane was hiding out in South Africa, where he said he was the target of an assassination attempt.
However, Mondlane continues to rally his supporters via social media.
“What is most hurtful to me is not being able to be with the people on the streets, to take part in their fight and in their protests, to lead these demonstrations. This pains me every single day,” he said.
Mondlane said the police’s response to the demonstrations has been “a deep violation of human rights”.
As a result of the death toll from the demonstrations the mortuaries in capital, Maputo, have become full.
One gravedigger in the city told the BBC that the number of burials he has assisted at has also shot up.
“On normal days, we conduct between six and eight burials a day,” Jorge Alfredo said.
“But today, since the cemetery reopened after the demonstrations, we struggled because we had to handle double the usual number of burials.”
Speaking to the BBC last month, Mozambique’s police commander Bernadino Raphael blamed Mondlane’s supporters for the deaths.
“They are using children as shields in front of them while they remain behind,” he alleged.
The commander added that in many instances police had no choice but to defend themselves from protesters who had unleashed violence, including killing six officers and looting and burning property and vehicles.
Protesters appear determined to carry on, however.
Recently, they have responded to some of Mondlane’s more creative ideas for demonstrations, such as banging pots and pans indoors at the same time every night and parking their cars on the streets to block traffic for several hours throughout the day.
The ruling party are feeling the pressure, Mondlane believes.
“Frelimo knows that if these protests carry on, there’s a huge risk that the country will become unfeasible,” he said.
After the result was announced on 24 October, Chapo was adamant that he and Frelimo had won in a free and fair contest, saying: “We are an organised party that prepares its victories.”
And if Frelimo do not concede and instead choose to progress with their five-year term? Mondlane believes that if the electoral process is reformed to make it more transparent then he will win the 2029 presidential election.
“Because the economic and social situation is so bad, there’s no way that this regime will manage to improve the situation in the next five years,” he said.
“I dare say that we will win, without a doubt.” – BBC
By Bruno Ferreira Garcez, Nomsa Maseko and Jose Tembe