By Enyichukwu Enemanna
The ruling party in Mozambique, the Frelimo, has been declared winner of the country’s election marred by violence, stretching its 49-year grip on power in the southern African nation.
Daniel Chapo, the presidential candidate of Frelimo is viewed as an agent of change.
The electoral management body, the National Electoral Commission (CNE) declared him the winner on Thursday. He will take over from Filipe Nyusi, who has served two terms in office.
Chapo, 47 scored 71% of total vote cast, leaving his main challenger, Venancio Mondlane with 20%.
He will be the first president born after Mozambique’s independence in 1975.
The election has been marred by allegations of rigging and the killing of opposition supporters, which led to protests across the country.
Media reports say the atmosphere in Mozambique’s capital, Maputo, is tense, with footages showing empty streets and closed businesses.
The main opposition candidate, Mondlane, has called for a national strike on Thursday to stage a protest against the alleged rigging.
He added that the protests would honour his lawyer and a party official who were shot dead last week in what he described as politically motivated killings.
He claims that he won the election despite preliminary polls showing that Chapo was well ahead.
Heritage Times HT had reported that the opposition party Podemos and its presidential candidate, Venancio Mondlane had earlier rejected provisional result which shows a likely win for Daniel Chapo.
This came after its lawyer and a party official were killed by gunmen who fired multiple rounds of ammunition at a vehicle they were travelling in on Saturday.
“They were brutally assassinated (in a) cold-blooded murder,” Reuters quoted Adriano Nuvunga, the Director of Mozambique’s Center for Democracy and Human Rights (CDD) as saying in a telephone conversation.
“The indications that around 10 to 15 bullets were shot, and they died instantly,” he added.
Analysts said this was aimed to sending a message to opposition figures who had on Monday called for a protest against the alleged rigging.
