General strike continues after 3 weeks and 50 killed by police
Young people continue to march and protest as government rhetoric grows, calling the demonstrators terrorists and giving the police the right to shoot to kill. At least 50 demonstrators have been killed by police, far more than insurgents killed in Cabo Delgado in the same period. An unprecedented general strike is now in its 3rd week. It is not just about massive electoral fraud, but also about growing poverty and lack of a future. And Frelimo seems divided and worried.
This is the PowerPoint of a seminar given by Joseph Hanlon, advisor to this Bulletin CIP Eleições, given at London School of Economics, where he is a visiting fellow.
Continuing general strike after Mozambique 9 October elections, by Joseph Hanlon, Power Point of 12 November 2024 seminar with notes and changes, Firoz Lalji Institute for Africa, London School of Economics. https://bit.ly/Moz-El-jh-LSE
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Election strike has same roots as Cabo Delgado insurgency
The current "unrest is not only about contested election results," warns Sam Jones from UNU-Wider. It reflects widespread disenchantment with the status quo, including limited social mobility for many. For some scholars, the emergence of Islamic terrorism in the north of the country since 2017 is another symptom of growing inequalities and unfulfilled expectations from natural resource extraction, amid rapid population growth."
In part he blames the hidden debt crisis, but he also point to elite capture and a failure to support agriculture, particularly by not setting minimum producer prices. He fails to note that these were both imposed by the IMF. And he wants devaluation and increased austerity, which will only make the crisis worse.
Mozambique in post-election turmoil: economic policies that could make a difference, by Sam Jones, Senior Research Fellow, World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER), United Nations University. Published on The Conversation, 13 Nov 2024. https://theconversation.com/mozambique-in-post-election-turmoil-economic-policies-that-could-make-a-difference-243603
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No justice, no peace in Mozambique
"While Frelimo may have won the elections, they lost the people," writes Ruth Catel-Branco, quoting Tomás Vieira Mário. She concludes "A decade ago, the kind of protest movement seen over the last few weeks would have been difficult to fathom. Oppositional voices were few and far between, and all the Frelimo regime had to do was persecute an unlucky few in order to restore order. Today, the oppositional voices are too many and too diverse to be silenced. And it has become increasingly clear that if there is no justice, there will be no peace."
No justice, no peace in Mozambique, by Ruth Castel-Branco. Published by Africa is a country. In English https://africasacountry.com/2024/11/no-justice-no-peace-in-mozambique and in Portuguese https://africasacountry.com/2024/11/sem-justica-e-sem-paz-em-mocambique
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Protest will continue
Post-election unrest expected to persist, Executive Research Associates (South Africa) Alert 192. https://www.erassociates.co.za/2024/11/14/alert-192-post-election-unrest-expected-to-persist/
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Mozambique’s last stand for democracy? Institute for Security Studies (ISS, Pretoria) by Borges Nhamirre. https://issafrica.org/iss-today/mozambique-s-last-stand-for-democracy?
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And from CIP
Insurgents step up attacks in Cabo Delgado during the post-election violence in Maputo, 11 Nov 2024. https://www.cipmoz.org/en/2024/11/11/insurgents-step-up-attacks-in-cabo-delgado-during-the-post-election-violence-in-maputo/
Tear gas used against demonstrators is a risk to public health and to biodiversity, 8 Nov 2024 https://www.cipmoz.org/en/2024/11/å08/tear-gas-used-against-demonstrators-is-a-risk-to-public-health-and-to-biodiversity/
