Mozambique’s new President Daniel Chapo has been sworn in at a low-key ceremony in the capital, Maputo, that was marred by an opposition boycott following heavily disputed elections. Hundreds of supporters of Mozambique’s opposition protested yesterday, Wednesday as the country inaugurated her new president.
Daniel Chapo took his oath as the country’s fifth president before about 2,500 people who endured intense heat in front of a city hall in the capital, Maputo.
Opposition supporters peacefully protested a few meters away after security forces wielding guns and batons blocked them from getting to the venue. Security forces sealed several roads and kept a heavy presence in other parts of Maputo.
Chapo, a 48-year-old law graduate, acknowledged the need to end the instability rocking the southern African nation.
“Social harmony cannot wait, nor can the building of consensus for the matters that worry the Mozambican people, so dialogue has already begun and we will not rest until we have a united and cohesive country,” he said.
In his first presidential address, Chapo, 47, pledged to “devote all my energies” to promoting unity and human rights in a nation scarred by post-election violence.
The country’s Constitutional Council in December 2024 declared Chapo the winner of the presidential election, with 65.17% of the vote, dismissing a challenge by opposition leader Venâncio Mondlane, whom it said got 24 percent of the vote. Chapo had won the election with over 65% of the vote, extending the 49-year-rule of the Frelimo party.
However, a local civil society group says that more than 300 people have been killed in clashes with security forces since elections in October. Eight people were killed by police on Wednesday as they protested against the inauguration, Dr Wilker Dias, head of election observer group Plataforma Decide told the BBC.
Most of the victims were supporters of defeated presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane, who had called for a national strike in defiance of Chapo taking office.
Mondlane, a 50-year-old pastor, has been leading the push for protests through messages on platforms such as Facebook to demand “restoration of the electoral truth.” Some western countries, including the United States, have also questioned the credibility of the elections. Mondlane – who contested the election as an independent – came second with 24% of the vote. He rejected the result, saying it was rigged and called for a strike on inauguration day “against the thieves of the people”.
For its part, the government had declared Wednesday a public holiday, with the streets of Maputo largely deserted and most businesses shut.
Addressing guests at the heavily guarded ceremony, Chapo said that “together, we will restore patriotism and pride in being Mozambican”. “Mozambique cannot remain a hostage to corruption, nepotism, and incompetence,” he added.
Police fired shots to disperse crowds outside Independence Square, where the ceremony was held, as Chapo’s motorcade left afterwards. The crowds were mostly of Mondlane’s supporters, but they included some who backed Chapo. Both groups had earlier tried to enter the venue but were barred from doing so.
“Is this a wedding with private invitations? We want to see the president being sworn in but we have been told we can’t,” Maputo resident Paulu Hamuze told the BBC.
Mondlane’s electoral campaign was backed by a small opposition party PODEMOS, which heeded his call for a boycott of the inauguration. Both of Mozambique’s leading opposition parties – Renamo and MDM – also boycotted the swearing-in because they also do not recognize Chapo as the rightful winner.
Chapo succeeds Filipe Nyusi, who has stepped down at the end of his two terms.
Even those in Mozambique who wish Chapo well openly question his legitimacy, or whether he will be able to tackle the problems he has identified.
