"Mais Integridade" Claims Renamo Victory in Maputo and Matola
The consortium Mais Integridade, which monitored the voting in the local elections of 11th October, has stated that Renamo won the elections in the Mozambican capital and in the city of Matola, despite official preliminary results suggesting otherwise.
According to the coalition of Mozambican non-governmental organisations, copies of Renamo's electoral results show that Mozambique's main opposition party "is winning in Matola with 59% of the votes against Frelimo's 34%, a margin of 80,000 votes."
"Renamo's victory comes despite significant fraud by Frelimo's polling station members, who removed at least 7,000 votes from Renamo," Mais Integridade reports, accusing the ruling party of attempting to "manipulate" the process in various ways, notably through a "scheme" where opposition parties' votes are rendered void.
The district's intermediate tallying document states that Frelimo's list won in Matola with 207,269 votes (57.23%), followed by Renamo with 130,963 votes (36.08%), and the Democratic Movement of Mozambique (MDM) with 13,204 votes (3.65%).
According to civil society organisations, which also relied on copies of electoral results from Mozambique's main opposition force, Renamo also defeated Frelimo in the city of Maputo, the capital, by more than 65,000 votes, with a voter turnout of 57%.
"The results from the capital's 833 polling stations for the main parties are: Democratic Movement of Mozambique (MDM) 23,760 (7%), Renamo 198,207 (55%), and Frelimo 132,850 (37%)," the organisations state.
According to the intermediate tallying document presented by the electoral bodies, in the Mozambican capital, Frelimo's list, led by Razaque Manhique, garnered 235,406 votes (58.78%), Renamo's, led by Venâncio Mondlane, 134,511 votes (33.59%), and that of the Democratic Movement of Mozambique (MDM), by Augusto Mbazo, 24,365 votes (6.8%).
Despite these figures, in Maputo, some district courts have already annulled the vote, citing various irregularities, especially the falsification of electoral results.
The sixth local elections in Mozambique took place in 65 municipalities across the country on 11th October, including 12 new municipalities, which voted for the first time.
According to intermediate district and provincial results released by STAE in recent days for 50 municipalities, Frelimo won in 49 and the MDM in Beira.
In protest against the process, Renamo, the main opposition force in the country, has been leading marches to claim victory in various parts of the country, denouncing an alleged "mega-fraud" in the vote.
Of the 65 municipalities, at least two had already annulled, by court decision, the vote in those municipalities due to alleged irregularities, namely Cuamba, in the province of Niassa, and Chokwé, in the province of Gaza, a decision described as historic in Mozambican electoral contests.
TORRE/LUSA
