Mozambique Opposition Calls Election “Mega Fraud”

Renamo, Mozambique’s leading opposition party, has called the country’s general election held on the 15thOctober a “mega fraud”, ad has renewed demands to nullify the outcome.

Preliminary results of the two-thirds of the ballots that have already been counted indicate a 75 per cent lead for the incumbent, President Nyusi, with Renamo polling at just 20 per cent.

After a meeting of Renamo’s political commission the party president, Ossufo Momade, told journalists in the capital, Maputo, that the party “urge[s] all Mozambicans not to accept mega electoral fraud”, further listing instances in which Renamo has been hindered during the process.

These included the murder of its party members and activists, irregularities in both voter registration and the voting process itself, as well as the actual counting of the votes.

International election observers have given mixed responses to the election, with the South African Development Community and the African Union largely praising the peaceful and orderly way the polling was conducted.

However, both the European Union and the United States were far more critical. 

The US Embassy released a statement earlier explaining that it had “significant concerns regarding problems and irregularities that may impact perceptions of the integrity of the electoral process”.