Cabo Delgado, 13 October, 2023 / 9:50 pm (ACI Africa).
Tension is high in various parts of Mozambique following the highly contested Wednesday, October 11 elections in the country’s 65 local government areas, an official of Denis Hurley Peace Institute (DHPI) has said.
In a Friday, October 13 interview with ACI Africa, the Director of DHPI, Johan Viljoen, said that violence had already been reported in some parts of the Southern African country even before the elections were conducted.
Mr. Viljoen expressed fear that the violence could spread across the entire country, which is already battling insurgency.
He said that supporters of the ruling Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo), and those of Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo) and the Democratic Movement of Mozambique (MDM), the country’s two main opposition parties, were already gearing up for violence.
“The situation now is very disconcerting. Supporters of the various political parties have already said that they will not accept the outcome of the elections. My fear is that the violence will spread and engulf the whole country,” the Director for the peace entity of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC) said.