Mozambique’s national election authorities began counting votes on Thursday following the country’s general election on Wednesday, as civil society monitors conducted a parallel tally to detect potential fraud. The election is widely expected to extend the ruling Frelimo party’s nearly five decades in power, despite persistent allegations of rigging, which the party denies.
Preliminary vote counting, which took place overnight, raised concerns among some observer missions, with over 200 polling stations reportedly denying journalists and observers access to the process, according to Sala da Paz, a civil society platform. “There were significant cases of electoral irregularities that may raise questions about the credibility of the process,” the platform stated.
The National Election Commission has yet to comment on these allegations.
At the Centre for Public Integrity in Maputo, observers compiled a parallel count by uploading photos of handwritten results sheets from polling stations. These were analyzed by an app developed to process the data. Analgencio Makamo, a data analyst for the observer mission Mais Integridade, emphasized the importance of this parallel tally, noting that Mozambique’s electoral history is “characterised by fraud.”
The official electoral commission is expected to release preliminary results on Saturday, with full results anticipated in two weeks. Previous elections in the country have revealed significant discrepancies between the official and parallel counts.
Four candidates are vying to succeed President Filipe Nyusi, who has reached the maximum term limit. Frelimo has nominated Daniel Chapo, a 47-year-old former governor and law professor, while his main rival, independent candidate Venancio Mondlane, has gained strong support from the country’s youth. Analysts predict isolated protests if the election results are disputed.
“Everyone here hopes Venancio will win. It’s going to be chaos if he doesn’t,” said Siaca Chemuna, a resident of Maputo’s Mafalala neighborhood, where Frelimo’s campaign banners fly.
The next president will face significant challenges, including an ongoing Islamist insurgency in the northern region that has disrupted multi-billion-dollar gas projects and displaced hundreds of thousands of people, along with high national debt and the economic impact of worsening cyclones.
Helena Cossa, a 25-year-old entrepreneur, expressed her doubts about the election’s fairness: “We are going to wait for the results, but I don’t think the elections were free.”
