Maputo’s hot heads begin to cool
A late-night meeting may yet help to lower simmering tensions.
Luis Nhachote in Maputo
Late on Sunday night, Mozambican President Daniel Chapo finally met opposition leader Venâncio Mondlane. The meeting, at the Joaquim Chissano International Conference Centre, was the first time the two men spoke directly to each other since last October’s disputed national election. The electoral commission certified Chapo as the winner. But observers pointed to widespread irregularities. Mondlane claimed victory and mobilised national protests that turned deadly when the state started firing.
A source told The Continent that the United States and European Union ambassadors in Maputo worked with Mozambican academics and church leaders to arrange the meeting, which remained uncertain until the last moment.
Details of what comes next have not emerged. But in the days afterwards, Mondlane spoke of an agreement to guarantee medical assistance for the injured, compensate relatives of the dead and pardon those arrested in the protests.
Chapo’s statements about the meeting were less specific and didn’t mention any guarantees. “It was a good, positive meeting and it will stabilise Mozambique politically, socially and economically,” he told journalists the following day.
The meeting was seen as necessary for lowering the country’s political temperature. The protests have made the country ungovernable for the ruling Frelimo party, which also fears that the chaos jeopardises international investment.
Plataforma Decide, a Mozambican NGO, says that at least 353 people have died since October, including around two dozen children. The government confirms 80 deaths and says that 1,677 commercial establishments, 177 schools and 23 health centres were damaged by the demonstrators.