Shots were heard again in Maputoy. Protests have already caused the death of 300 people
“All the buildings we have were left by the Portuguese”. This is how, in a conversation with CNN Portugal, a young Mozambican regrets more than 50 years of Frelimo in power.
A power that will extend after Daniel Chapo’s inauguration as president, in an election that many say was fraudulent, which has led to many demonstrations and a scenario of chaos since then.
Even this Wednesday, the day of the inauguration, violence took over the avenues surrounding Independence Square.
It was nearby, on Avenida 25 de Setembro, that shots were heard during the inauguration, with several images showing soldiers and people in clashes, repeating the scenario that has already resulted in 300 deaths and more than 600 injuries.
Daniel Chapo’s election has been contested in the streets since October, with pro-Venâncio Mondlane protesters – presidential candidate who, according to the Constitutional Council, obtained just 24% of the votes, but who claimed victory – demanding the “replacement of electoral truth” , with barricades, looting and clashes with the police, which was repeated again this Wednesday
“I don’t agree with Daniel Chapo as president, he is not the president elected by the people, the president elected by the people is Venâncio Mondlane”, continues the young man, who does not see any signs of progress in Mozambique.
For this reason, and given what he says is Frelimo’s incapacity, this popular member calls for the intervention of the European Union, which should not see Mozambique just as a “source of wealth”, but as a “people who cry, who have been enslaved for more 50 years old”.
“I am asking, making an appeal, for the European Union to help Mozambique. We are not putting up with the Frelimo regime. Why did we expel the Portuguese?”, he reiterates, highlighting that the dream of independence dies with a people enslaved since it became effective .
Venâncio Mondlane called for three days of strikes and demonstrations, starting on Monday, contesting the inauguration of the deputies elected to the Assembly of the Republic and the inauguration of the new President of the Republic.
Daniel Chapo was inaugurated, in Maputo, as the fifth president of the Republic of Mozambique, the first born after the country’s independence, in a ceremony with around 2,500 guests and the presence of two heads of state.
Current secretary general of the Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (Frelimo), Daniel Chapo was governor of the province of Inhambane when, in May 2024, he was chosen by the Central Committee to be the ruling party’s candidate to succeed Filipe Nyusi, who served two terms as President of the Republic.
On December 23, Daniel Chapo, 48 years old, was proclaimed by the Constitutional Council as the winner of the presidential election, with 65.17% of the votes, in the general elections on October 9, which included legislative and provincial assemblies, which Frelimo also won.
Chapo promises citizen-centered presidency
The new president of Mozambique promised to launch a broad reform of the State to reduce the number of ministries, create new entities, promote the digitalization of public services and combat corruption.
“Corruption is a disease that has corroded our people, with ghost public officials, cartels that enrich themselves at the expense of the people, and this must end; there will be no place for those who put their interests above the interests of the Mozambican people, whether in public sector, whether in the private sector”, said Daniel Chapo, in his inauguration speech, given in Maputo, and in which he began by observing a minute of silence for the victims of the catastrophes that have ravaged the country.
In the almost 50-minute intervention, Daniel Chapo reviewed various transformations that he promised to implement as leader of the country, including the reduction in the number of ministries, the valorization of public services, the transformation of the educational system, the accountability of public servants , the creation of new entities in the management of public administration and the promise that, together, Mozambicans “will once again be proud to be Mozambicans”.
“We will implement important changes in how the Government works, placing the people at the center of decisions”, he promised, exemplifying that the reduction in the size of the Government, “with fewer ministries and the elimination of State secretariats equivalent to ministries”, will allow for a savings of 17 billion meticais (more than 258 million euros) per year, “which will be directed to where it really matters: education, health, agriculture, water, energy, roads, and improving the people’s living conditions”.
The elimination of the deputy minister and the reformulation of the positions of secretaries of state and permanent secretaries, in addition to the review of the role of secretaries of state in the provinces were other promises made by the new head of state, who also said he would review the benefits of public leaders and the State’s privatization program.
“These changes include freezing the acquisition of protocol vehicles for the State, so that we can acquire ambulances and other vehicles to serve the people, and are concrete measures that show that the Government is willing to tighten its belt and lead by example”, he highlighted.
Mozambique, he pointed out, “cannot continue to be hostage to corruption, cronyism, inertia, clientelism, ‘friendliness’, nepotism, ‘lambe botismo’, incompetence and injustice and vices and deviations from good conduct that is required of public services”, he stated, to widespread applause from the audience watching the speech.
The digitalization of public services and the creation of a Ministry of Transport and Logistics, essentially dedicated to railways and ports, as well as the creation of a Court of Auditors and intermediate courts that speed up processes, alongside arbitration centers, were others measures presented by Daniel Chapo with regard to State reform.
