A military armoured vehicle blocks the road as protesters try to make their way to the Ressano Garcia border post between Mozambique and South Africa, on Nov. 13. Mozambique's opposition leader on Nov. 11, called for protests over contested elections won by the ruling Frelimo party.ALFREDO ZUNIGA/AFP/Getty Images
Police have killed nearly 50 protesters in Mozambique over the past three weeks in an attempt to crush a prolonged wave of demonstrations and strikes that have paralyzed the country since a disputed election last month, local activists say.
The rising death toll includes seven people who were reportedly shot dead by police on Wednesday in the city of Nampula. Videos on social media showed police brandishing handguns and rifles as they roamed the city’s streets in a hunt for protesters.
The continuing demonstrations against Mozambique’s ruling party, Frelimo, after its official victory in the national election, are the latest sign of growing unhappiness with the long-dominant liberation movements that have governed most countries in southern Africa since their independence from colonialism or white minority rule.
South Africa’s ruling party, the African National Congress, suffered a stunning setback in May when it lost its majority for the first time, while Botswana’s governing party was defeated last month after 58 years in power.
The ruling parties in Zimbabwe and Mozambique have clung to power, but are widely accused of rigging their elections. Election observers from the European Union reported that they had evidence of the “unjustified alteration of election results” in Mozambique after the voting last month.
The persistent unrest in Mozambique’s streets is threatening to cause economic chaos in the country. Protesters shut down a key border post between Mozambique and South Africa for several days last week, and they managed to close the same border crossing again on Wednesday.
The border post is crucial to Mozambique’s supply of food and other commodities. It also has a huge economic value for the country’s main seaports, which export minerals and other goods from several African countries. Last week’s border closing inflicted US$380-million in damage to Mozambique’s economy, according to the Centre for Public Integrity, an anti-corruption group in Mozambique’s capital, Maputo.
The commissioner of South Africa’s Border Management Authority, Michael Masiapato, told journalists on Wednesday that the authority had suspended the processing of people and cargo at the Lebombo border post because of “intensified protests” on the Mozambican side of the border.
Blocking the border was a central strategy of the protesters on Wednesday. But they also demonstrated in several other towns and cities across the country on the first day of the latest three-day phase of their campaign.
The demonstrations have been spearheaded by Venancio Mondlane, an opposition candidate who finished second in the official election results. He has alleged that vote-rigging prevented him from winning.
This week he urged Mozambique’s truck drivers to block the country’s ports, borders and transport corridors. He also called for a shutdown of the economy.
“We will paralyze all activities so that they understand that the people are tired,” Mr. Mondlane said in a Facebook broadcast from an unknown location in exile, where he fled after alleging that he was the target of an assassination plot. Two of his senior officials were killed by unknown assailants last month.
In an attempt to halt the protests, Mozambican authorities have heavily restricted internet access, including social media, for the past three weeks.
The national police chief, Bernardino Rafael, held a press conference on Tuesday to demand an end to the protests. The demonstrators are “as bad as terrorists,” he said on state television. “It is time to say enough is enough.”
In Nampula, police reportedly killed some protesters inside their own homes. “Witnesses say security forces in armoured vehicles are moving inside neighbourhoods, shooting indiscriminately,” said Zenaida Machado, a senior researcher at Human Rights Watch, in a social-media post on Wednesday.
Security forces used tear gas to disperse thousands of people who were marching in the city of Quelimane, she said. A peaceful march “turned into a standoff between police and marchers,” Ms. Machado said.
Prosecutors said they had opened 208 criminal cases in response to Wednesday’s protests, including cases of homicide, property damage and “incitement to collective disobedience.”
Human-rights groups say the police response has been excessive and abusive. “For the last month, police have routinely violated people’s human rights during protests, including many killings and injuries and thousands of arbitrary detentions,” Amnesty International said this week.