Sadc must act now to save Mozambique from this to become unsuccessful condition | Election

On January 9, the main leader of the opposition of Mozambique, Venancio Mondlane, returned home after two months in self -imposed exile.

When he appeared at the gates at Maputo International Airport, he kneeling on the ground, squeezed the Bible, offered a prayer for his homeland, and declared himself “the elected president of the Mozambican people, … elected by the true will of people.”

Turning to reporters, he claims that the government is carrying out a “silent genocide” by abducting and executing members of the opposition to hide the obvious irregularities in the October 9 election. There was a violent clash between the State Security Forces and thousands of protesters who came to show their support for the 50-year-old preacher of the Pentecost.

The chaotic scenes that this day at the airport were representative of the gloomy reality of Mozambique, defined by widespread anti -government protests and meaningless state violence.

Following the election, the Mozambique Election Commission (CNE) was in a hurry to announce the Frelimo party, which has led the country for 50 years, and its candidate for President Daniel Chapo as legal winners. It claims that Chapo has won more than 70 percent of the vote, and Mondlane, supported by the Podemos party, ranks second with only 20 percent.

However, when CNE announced the official results, several independent electoral missions including Mission to European Union Observer and Mozambique Episcopal Conference, He had already come to the conclusion that the election process, which led to the Chapo, was neither free nor fair. They take into account irregularities during census and change of results at both local and regional levels.

Mondlane and other opposition data immediately condemned the election results, demanded a repetition of the ballot box, and encouraged supporters to rise against Frelimo.

In response Repression For all public expressions of disagreement.

More than 300 people, including several children, have died in violence in the last three months. Among the tragic losses are Elvino DiazMondlane and Paulo Guambe legal representative, an employee of Podemos, who were both shot by unknown attackers in the capital, Maputo in October. It was after these killings that Mondlan made the decision to temporarily move abroad because of his safety.

The election dispute also sparked economic chaos in Mozambique and the wider region.

Frequent large -scale protests began to disturb trade While vandalism and robbery It became common, pushing the South African nation in a continuous state of severe insecurity, trembling and excitement.

Lifestocks are also affected by the mining sector of South Africa facing daily losses of 10 million Rand ($ 562,822) and potential exclusions due to the recurring closure of Lebombo's border post. Moreover, a riot in the maputo of Christmas brought to the escape of 1500 prisonersemphasizing a critical failure in law and order.

On December 23, Mozambique Constitutional Council Confirm the Voter Victory of Chapo, formally expanding Frelimo's 50-year term in office. However, this decision only served to escalate the rage of protesters.

As the Mozambicians lost all faith in the ability of their country's internal mechanisms to provide democratic governance, they began to look beyond their boundaries for decisions of the overwhelming crisis.

On January 6th a group of Mozambican civil society organizations He gave an extremely legal basis to the cabinet of South Africa President Cyril Ramafosa, asking him to intervene to help to resolve the opposition between the Freelimo and the opposition.

They called on Ramafosa to facilitate the participation of the African Court, the International Criminal Court and the Council for Peace and Security of the African Union to resolve the crisis.

There is no doubt that this was an unusual request.

Instead of approaching the South Africa (SADC) development community, the regional body that has to lead any external effort to resolve tensions, Mozambican activists have chosen to start bilateral commitment with South Africa, the leading democracy in the region. This demonstration of distrust in SADC was certainly not surprising, but further emphasized the urgent need for the regional body to improve its performance.

The day before the petition in Pretoria, Sadc Troika Responsible for issues related to politics, defense and security – which currently consists of Tanzania, Malawi and Zambia – convened a virtual summit to discuss the situation in Mozambique. At the meeting, Troika appointed the SADC elders and the Council of Ministers to commit to the Mozambique government and key opposition leaders.

Although it was a step in the right direction, it is important to note that it was a move that came very late and was perceived by many as nothing but an attempt to save the face.

In fact, the SADC election observers, unlike all others, eagerly approved the polls on October 9, stating that they are they “Professionally organized” and took place in a “tidy, calm and free atmosphere”. In the eyes of a majority of protesters, this position has already proven that SADC cannot serve as a goal and simply an arbitrator in this crisis.

Those in the region of Zimbabwe., Eswatin and Angola to Democratic Republic Congo He has long been aware of the tendency of SADC to close his eyes to the gross selection abuses and oppression of the state.

In fact, those in Mozambique had also learned long before these latest elections did not expect much from SADC when it comes to protecting democracy.

Five years ago, the previous President of Mozambique Frelimo, Philip Nici, secured a second term after announcing a 2019 election victory.

The opposition and several independent polling missions similarly maintained this poll, were marred by widespread irregularities, intimidation, violence and political killings. The body of the bullet of Babula JuqueThe leader of the Renamo Women's League in Zumbo was found next to her husband in the western province of Tete the day before the votes were filed.

As today, SADC did nothing much to deal with the problem and continued a heartfelt relations with the Frelimo government.

If the SADC has to maintain any authenticity and cause a positive change in the region, it cannot continue to interact with the Fralimo government, as if everything is normal.

More importantly, if the SADC -or even the African Union -does not intervene immediately in the situation, Mozambique can be pushed into a much deeper and more bulk crisis that would be catastrophic for its more than 30 million citizens, as well as the broader region.

For the age of 16, from May 1977 to October 1992, Mozambique experienced a devastating civil war. Just recently, since 2017, a gas -rich northern province of Cabo Delgado was entangled in a violent uprising that killed over 4,000 people and displaced 946,000.

Meanwhile the country is ranked 183 of 189 Countries on the UN Human Development Index 2023-2024 with a national poverty degree of poverty from 74.7 percentHe is one of the most, and the lowest developed Countries in the world despite the abundance of natural resources.

Mozambique is also overwhelmed by systematic lawlessness.

In December 2022 Mozambican Association of JudgesShe said her country was confronted with a “crisis of democratic rule of law”. This came after Frelimo entered the table of the only salary, a law that weakened the independence of the judges of the nicer courts.

Against the background of the clear attempts to undermine the rule of law, corruption is also full in the country. It is reported, $ 11 billionled to a significant reduction in national health care costs, sparked rebellion in Cabo Delgado And he pushed almost two million people into poverty.

In this anxious context, if they are left to be angry, wounds open by electoral irregularities could easily immerse the country in a pernicious internal conflict.

Fortunately, for the time being, Mondlan and his supporters continue to be convinced that the elections, not the rebels, serve as the most viable avenue for the introduction of change, even against the backdrop of the many difficulties arising from the unscrupulous and inadvertent administration of Frelimo. However, there is no guarantee that another group will choose to follow the same strategy in the future. Given the apparent lack of interest of the outside world to help Mozambics's supporters resist the oppressive government of the freedo, the dissatisfaction of the population and the despair for change are steadily increasing.

If he has to prevent a future catastrophe in Mozambique, the SADC has to gather its act now, stop bringing the ruling party and take specific steps to put Mozambique on the way to turning into true democracy.

The region's heads must ensure that Mozambique is beginning to fulfill its legal obligations as stated in SADC protocolsS

On January 15, Chapo swore like the new president of Mozambique. One of his first major acts of service was to fire the police chief Bernadino Rafael, who was accused by opposition figures of working with criminal groups to abduct and kill civic protesters after the election. The new president at first glance works to win public confidence and to make the angry masses forget and forgive the state -sanctioned violence preceding his ascent to the position.

However, people will not forget. So I don't have to forget SADC either.

The regional body must act now and to introduce provisions to prevent the last three months from repeating the next election cycle.

If he fails to do so, it will risk getting completely irrelevant and condemns Mozambique to be reduced to a failed state in the not so distant future.

The anger expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazee's editorial position.