Mozambique withdraws opposition leader Mondlane’s diplomatic passport
Mozambique opposition leader Venancio Mondlane speaks to the media at the Maputo International Airport.
What you need to know:
- Venâncio Mondlane returned to the country from a self-imposed exile on Thursday.
- Authorities said his passport was no longer valid because he had resigned as an MP.
Mozambican immigration authorities have cancelled the diplomatic passport issued to opposition leader Venâncio Mondlane who has rejected election results that showed he came second.
Mondlane returned from a self-imposed exile on Thursday and authorities at the capital Maputo promptly said his passport was no longer valid because he had resigned as a Member of Parliament.
In a statement, the National Migration Service (Senami) explained that officials at the border control desk at Maputo international airport, where Mondlane arrived on Thursday morning, noticed he was travelling on a ‘rejected’ passport due to the holder's resignation of his status as a Member of Parliament.
After two and a half months abroad, Mr Mondlane, who fled the country following the disputed October 9 presidential polls, returned to Maputo and proclaimed himself the country’s head of state.
Previously, Mr Mondlane said had suffered death threats both in Mozambique and South Africa where he was in exile after two close associates were killed on October 19, 2024.
The post-election chaos in the country has left almost 300 people dead and more than 600 shot.
On Thursday, at least three people died and other six were shot among those who accompanied Mr Mondlane on his return to Maputo, a local lobby Decide Platform said, adding that two police officers were killed in the north of the country in the chaos that followed.
At the airport, police were forced to disperse a crowd that gathered to welcome Mr Mondlane.
Senami said according to the local laws, the diplomatic passport had only been granted to Mr Mondlane “in his capacity as a member of the Assembly of the Republic.”
Mr Mondlane was elected in 2019 on a Mozambican National Resistance Movement (Renamo) ticket, but chose to contest the presidency as an independent candidate backed by opposition Podemos party.
“Because he resigned from office on June 3, 2024, he lost all rights inherent to the position, including the use of a diplomatic passport as a Member of Parliament,” Senami said in a statement.
Senami further said Mr Mondlane can apply for an ordinary passport, if he so wishes.
Following a row with Renamo leader Ossufo Momade, after being prevented from running for the leadership of the largest opposition party at last May's congress, Mr Mondlane requested to resign as an MP on June 3, 2024 and the request was granted.
On December 23, 2024, the country’s Constitutional Counsel confirmed that Daniel Chapo, of the ruling Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (Frelimo), as the winner of the October 9, 2024 elections with 65.17 per cent of the votes.
Mr Mondlane was declared second with 24.19 per cent of the votes followed by Renamo leader Ossufo Momade (6.62 per cent and MDM leader Lutero Simango (4.02 per cent).
On Thursday Mr Mondlane maintained that it does not accept the election results, adding that he is the President of the Republic “elected by the people and not by the Constitutional Council.”
Meanwhile, Mozambique deputy president of the Interministerial Commission for Major Events Ms Eldevina Materula said invitations to international organisations for the inauguration of the President-elect Daniel Chapo scheduled for January 15, 2024 were sent out Friday.
“We hope to have confirmations on Monday. We have sent the invitations to the entire Southern African Development Community (SADC), to the African Union and to some European heads of state,” Ms Materula told reporters Friday in Maputo.
She also said that the event should be attended by 2,500 people.
At the same time, South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa said his government is ready and willing to support Mozambique if the post-election unrest continues, without giving further details on how this intervention would take place.
During a Progressive Business Forum of the African National Congress, President Ramaphosa did not confirm his attendance of President-elect Chapo's inauguration ceremony in Maputo.
In Portugal, parliament approved Friday in general a resolution by the Liberal Initiative calling on the government not to recognise the results of Mozambique's general elections and another by Chega party calling for a “transparent recount” of the votes.
Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa has also not confirmed his attendance of Mr Chapo’s inauguration.
According to Portuguese Radio Television RTP, the Portuguese Head of State said the issue is “premature” to decide on.
According to RTP, Prime Minister Luís Montenegro spoke to Mr Chapo on the phone Thursday and told him that he was very concerned about the “environment of violence” in the country.
