Columbus Mavhunga
Mount Hampden, ZIMBABWE — The Southern African Development Community held an extraordinary summit of heads of state in Zimbabwe on Wednesday to discuss the post-election strife in Mozambique and the conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Mozambique has been rocked by violence since last month’s elections, with police accused of killing at least 30 protesters, according to civil society organizations there. The opposition accuses the FRELIMO government, which was represented by Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi, of stealing the October 9 elections.
"Summit received an update of the Republic of Mozambique on the post-election political and security situation in the country and reaffirmed its unwavering commitment to work with the Republic of Mozambique in ensuring peace, security and stability through the relevant structures of the SADC organ on politics, defense and security cooperation," said the group's executive secretary, Elias Magosi. "Summit extended condolences to the government and people of the Republic of Mozambique for the lives lost during the post-election violence.”
Earlier in the day, Magosi said those aggrieved in Mozambique should pursue legal solutions instead of resorting to violence.
Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who holds the rotating chairmanship of SADC, did not speak about the situation in Mozambique during his eight-minute closing remarks.
He talked only about the conflict in eastern DRC. Since 2022, the Congolese army has been fighting a rebel army with the assistance of soldiers from some SADC countries.
Speaking from Maputo via WhatsApp before Mnangagwa’s speech, Albino Forquilha of the Optimist Party for the Development of Mozambique (PODEMOS) — which is protesting together with supporters of Venancio Mondlane, the runner-up in last month's disputed presidential election — said they were not reading much into the SADC meeting.
“The PODEMOS party has mobilized people to protest the result that was announced by the electoral commission of Mozambique, which presented results which differ with those that were collected on the voting tables [polling stations]," Forquilha said. "So, we are requesting fair elections. The constitutional court, which is the last institution to give results in a transparent manner — it’s important to call representatives of competing political parties when they validate the election. Everyone can accept them, because the [confirming] process of these two different numbers has been transparent. This is what we are requesting now.”
Opposition parties in Mozambique disagree that FRELIMO’s candidate, Daniel Chapo, won the presidential election.
In a state of the nation address on Tuesday, Nyusi invited the four presidential candidates for a dialogue as part of a bid to end post-election protests.