Shortly after the presidential and parliamentary elections in Mozambique on October 9, opposition candidate Venancio Mondlane claimed victory.

Mondlane declared that he was the legitimate winner and announced, just one day after the vote, that he wanted to start discussions with all parties about forming a new democratic government under his leadership. 

The Mozambique Liberation Front (FRELIMO), which has governed the country since its independence from Portugal in 1975, put forth Daniel Chapo to succeed President Filipe Nyusi, who was not allowed to run again after completing the two terms allowed by the constitution.

The official final results are expected to be announced by October 25, in accordance with national election law. 

"The election process and vote counting were chaotic, election observers recorded numerous irregularities across the country," Salvador Forquilha, a researcher and analyst, told DW. He added that mutual distrust dominates political discussions in the "extremely tense atmosphere."  

Tools of intimidation

The situation escalated following an incident on October 19.

Mondlane's lawyer, Elvino Dias, and Paulo Guambe, a candidate from the Podemos party, which backed Mondlane for president, were in a car in downtown Maputo when they were surrounded by other vehicles and shot and killed, witnesses said.

In a video posted on Facebook, Mondlane accused the security forces of firing at Dias 25 times. Dias' funeral is expected to take place on Wednesday.

The European Union, United States, African Union and United Nations have condemned the killings and urged authorities to identify the perpetrators. 

Mondlane and his supporters immediately suspected that the murders were aimed at intimidating the opposition. Mondlane quickly organized vigils, and called for protests and a general strike on Monday.

Many people, especially in the capital, Maputo, followed this call. However, heavily armed police officers dispersed crowds that had gathered in the city's squares, using tear gas, rubber bullets and even live ammunition. 

At least one journalist was injured, media reported, while several others, including journalists from DW, inhaled tear gas.

Additional footage seen by DW shows at least one protester limping with a bloodied leg after being struck by a projectile.

Will 'political murders' provoke more violence?

"The murders of opposition politicians Dias and Guambe are a barbaric act by a regime that resorts to violence to cling to power," Forquilha said.

He said he feared that the incidents, along with the response to the protests on Monday, could provoke a violent backlash.

Ernesto Nhanale, executive director of MISA-Mozambique, an independent media institute for southern Africa, told DW that the events of the past few days in Maputo have been "abhorrent." 

Unsolved killings

Political murders are not uncommon in Mozambique. Since 2015, the country has seen a series of killings of intellectuals, activists, journalists, and political dissidents carried out by so-called death squads. Analysts claim these murders are politically motivated.

For example, the lawyer Jose Capassura told DW that the 2015 shooting of French-Mozambican constitutional expert Gilles Cistac in an upscale neighborhood of Maputo has never been solved. The circumstances surrounding the 2016 shooting of Renamo opposition party MP Jeremias Pondeca also remain unclear. 

In 2019, activist and election observer Anastacio Matavele was shot dead. While the case was brought to trial and two police officers were convicted of the crime, the masterminds behind the murder were never identified, said Capassura, who has no doubt that all these murders — including the recent killings of Elvino Dias and Paulo Guambe — were politically motivated.

Resistance to FRELIMO

The opposition, led by Mondlane, appears even more determined to continue the protests. Mondlane announced on Wednesday that the entire country would come to a standstill from Thursday. 

Vitamo Singano, leader of the extraparliamentary Revolutionary Democracy Party, which supports Mondlane, spoke out Monday in Beira, Mozambique's second-largest city.

"The people and the international community have once again witnessed a scandalous election fraud in recent days," Singano said.

"We say clearly: We will never recognize a FRELIMO victory. FRELIMO was not elected. We are determined to free our country from FRELIMO — even if we must pay with our lives."

Edited by: Keith Walker