Mozambique faces another likely protest as opposition leader announces his return from exile

JOHANNESBURG

Mozambique's opposition presidential candidate, Venancio Mondlane, who has been out of the country since late October, has announced his return on Thursday, come what may, and has asked supporters to welcome him.

“If they want to assassinate me. If they want to arrest me, arrest me. I know that when I fall, the popular fury that will be felt in Mozambique is unparalleled in the history of Africa and Mozambique,” he said in Portuguese during a Facebook live broadcast on Monday, according to a report by the Club of Mozambique’s new site.

Mondlane, the leader of the main opposition party, Podemos, or the Optimist Party for the Development of Mozambique, who left the country in late October and has been commanding protests from outside, has asked supporters to greet him when he returns home on Thursday at 08:05 local time (0605GMT) at Maputo International Airport.

Mondlane fled the country on October 21 after unknown gunmen assassinated his lawyer Elvino Dias and party official Paulo Guambe in the capital, Maputo.

Mozambique has been gripped by violent protests for nearly two months since the electoral authority declared 47-year-old Daniel Chapo of the ruling Frelimo the winner of the October 9 presidential elections with 71% of the vote, defeating Mondlane, who received 20%.

Mondlane, who claims to have won the election, called on his supporters to protest, prompting the Constitutional Council to intervene, and on Dec 23, it affirmed that Chapo had won the vote but reduced his percentage to 65%. This caused fresh and more violent protests.

Near 300 people have died since the protests started in the country, with most deaths caused by gunfire from security personnel, according to civil society groups.

Last month, Mondlane said he would install himself as president on January 15, the same day president-elect Daniel Chapo will be inaugurated.