MAPUTO – Social media access in Mozambique was restricted for a second time in a week yesterday, a global internet watchdog said, as the opposition called for nationwide strikes over disputed presidential election results.
Tensions soared in the southern African nation after the ruling Frelimo party, which has held power for 49 years, won an 9 October vote that opposition parties and electoral observers said was flawed.
“We can confirm social media restrictions have been imposed in Mozambique,” London-based internet watchdog NetBlocks said, adding it had affected Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.
Last Friday a temporary internet blackout was introduced, a day after election results were announced by the electoral commission and protests were violently suppressed.
NetBlocks said at the time there was a “near-total disruption to mobile internet connectivity in Mozambique”.
On 24 October, Frelimo’s Daniel Chapo (47), was declared winner of the presidential election with almost 71% of the vote.
Opposition leader Venancio Mondlane (50), of the small Podemos party, came second with 20%.
After the announcement, police cracked down on opposition supporters who took to the streets.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) said at least 11 people were killed by security forces and more than 50 others were injured on 24 and 25 October.
Police did not respond to HRW’s report but previously said 20 people were injured in post-electoral violence and that two people had died, without giving details.
A police investigation was opened against Mondlane following the unrest and his whereabouts remain unknown.
But the former radio host-turned-politician, who has widely used social media to communicate with his supporters, rallying them to protest, again called for a nationwide strike from 31 October to 7 November.
It was unclear if his call to “paralyse” the country from northern Cabo Delgado to Maputo, more than 2 400 kilometres away would be heeded, but the capital was a ghost city yesterday.
Police sent out text messages on Wednesday evening and yesterday morning, including to an AFP reporter, instructing residents not to participate in acts of “sabotage”.
The public prosecutor also issued a statement saying while it was a “fundamental right” to protest, “anyone who… causes material or personal damage shall be punished.”
Podemos party president Albino Forquilha yesterday said he would “do everything to ensure there is no violence” during the planned week-long strike “but we need to fight for justice”
Election observers, including from the European Union, have noted serious flaws before, during and after the vote.
Mondlane and his Podemos party, which overshadowed the main opposition party Renamo in the election, on Sunday appealed to the Constitutional Court for a ballot recount.
The judicial body has since requested results sheets and minutes of polling stations in six provinces and Maputo from the electoral commission, giving them eight days to produce the documents.
– Nampa/AFP