Mozambique’s opposition leader, Venancio Mondlane has returned from self-exile after disputing the results of a rather competitive October election and, fleeing the country at the inception of one of the nation’s longest protests.
Mondlane’s return had attracted a host of supporters who gathered to greet him at an airport in the capital, Maputo but were later dispersed with rounds of tear gas launched by Mozambique’s police.
Mondlane in an engagement with reporters at the Mavalane International Airport noted that his decision to return from his hiding place in South Africa was a unilateral one devoid of any influence by external parties. “My return does not result from any political agreement. My return is a unilateral decision to be in Mozambique,”
“I’m here to prove that I didn’t leave Mozambique out of fear,” he said, ending a period of exile that began a few days after the vote, when Mondlane had said his life was in danger.
Reports project that Mondlane’s return could further exacerbate protests which have continued sporadically since the electoral commission declared victory in mid-October for the candidate of the ruling Frelimo party, extending its half-century in power.
Meanwhile, the official winner of the presidential vote, Daniel Chapo, is set to be sworn in next week, another potential flashpoint in Mozambique’s political crisis.
Chapo and Frelimo deny accusations of electoral fraud.
Mondlane once again took a firm stance on his view that he was the true winner of the election, despite officially only securing 20% of the vote. “I, Venancio Mondlane, (am the) president elected by the Mozambicans,” he said at the terminal, holding a Bible.
