Gunmen kill two Mozambique opposition figures forward of election protests By Reuters

By Tim Cocks

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -Gunmen killed a Mozambique opposition lawyer and a celebration official after firing a number of rounds at a automotive during which they have been travelling on Saturday, rights teams stated, ratcheting up tensions forward of protests in opposition to a disputed election outcome. 

New opposition occasion Podemos and its presidential aspirant Venancio Mondlane reject provisional outcomes displaying a possible win for Frelimo – the occasion that has dominated Mozambique for half a century – and its candidate Daniel Chapo. 

They’ve known as for a nationwide strike on Monday.

Mozambican civil society election observer group Extra Integrity stated the assault occurred within the Bairro Da Coop neighbourhood of the capital Maputo, killing Podemos lawyer Elvino Dias and occasion consultant Paulo Guambe.

Human Rights Watch and Mozambique’s Heart for Democracy and Human Rights (CDD) additionally issued statements confirming the assault. 

“They have been brutally assassinated (in a) cold-blooded homicide,” Adriano Nuvunga, CDD director, informed Reuters by phone. 

“The indications that round 10 to fifteen bullets have been shot, and so they died immediately,” he added, describing it as a “message” to opposition protesters planning to convene on Monday.

A Frelimo spokesperson didn’t reply to requests for remark.

The European Union and Mozambique’s former colonial ruler Portugal condemned the killing and known as for an investigation.

Mondlane’s rise to turn into Mozambique’s primary challenger was a menace to Frelimo, but additionally to former official opposition occasion Renamo – as soon as a insurgent outfit backed by racist white regimes in South Africa and Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) throughout the Chilly Battle.

Alex Vines, Africa programme director at London-based worldwide affairs assume tank Chatham Home, known as the killing a “severe escalation” that raised tensions forward of Monday’s strike.

Western observers have solid doubt on the credibility of the ballot, noting studies of vote shopping for, intimidation, inflated voter rolls and poor transparency in collation – issues which have marred most polls since Frelimo launched democracy in 1994 after 20 years in energy.  

Full outcomes are anticipated on Oct. 24, however many concern Monday’s protest might flip bloody. Mozambique’s safety forces have opened fireplace on protesters, together with after final 12 months’s native elections, rights teams say.