Gunmen kill two Mozambique opposition officials before election protests

Podemos party’s lawyer Elvino Dias and party representative Paulo Guambe killed before protests against the disputed vote.

Gunmen in Mozambique have killed a leading opposition politician’s lawyer and another opposition official, according to their party, before protests against a disputed election result.

The attackers chased the car of Podemos party’s lawyer Elvino Dias and party representative Paulo Guambe and fatally shot them late on Friday night in the capital Maputo, the party said on Saturday.

Videos on social media showed a BMW SUV in the middle of the road with numerous bullet holes in the bodywork. Some of the videos showed what appeared to be the bodies of two men, one with blood on his chest, in the front seats. The other body was slumped over.

The killings came with tensions already high in the southern African country as it waits for the results of an October 9 election that has drawn more allegations of vote-rigging and clamping down on dissent against the 49-year rule of the Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (Frelimo) party.

Podemos has rejected provisional results showing a win for Frelimo and called for a nationwide strike on Monday. Although Venancio Mondlane ran for president as an independent, he was supported by Podemos.

The killings are “further clear evidence of the lack of justice that we are all subjected to”, Podemos stated.

“They were brutally assassinated [in a] cold-blooded murder,” Adriano Nuvunga, director of Mozambique’s Center for Democracy and Human Rights (CDD), told the Reuters news agency by telephone.

“The indication [is] that around 10 to 15 bullets were shot, and they died instantly.”

Human Rights Watch also issued a statement confirming the attack.

According to the latest election tally, Frelimo is leading in all 11 provinces and its candidate Daniel Chapo is widely expected to win the election. Chapo is expected to be announced as successor to President Filipe Nyusi, who has served a maximum of two terms.

Podemos and other opposition parties have accused Frelimo of electoral fraud. Western observers have also cast doubt on the polls, citing reports of vote-buying, intimidation, and inflated voter rolls in Frelimo strongholds.

Mozambique has struggled with these issues since Frelimo first introduced democracy in 1994 after two decades in power. The election’s final results are expected on October 24, but there are fears Monday’s protest could be violent.

Mozambique’s security forces have opened fire on political protesters in the past, including after last year’s local elections, according to rights groups.

Nuvunga, the NGO director, wrote on social media that the killing of Dias was a “political assassination”.