Maputo, June 24, 2025 (Lusa) - The leader of Renamo said on Tuesday that Mozambique’s 50 years of independence have been marked by “electoral fraud” and a “failed state,” calling for conditions to ensure that the next elections are “transparent” and arguing for a change in power.
“As a corollary of half a century of history, Mozambique is a failed state, which is why it is a national imperative to achieve economic independence in the next 50 years. To this end, it is essential to hold free, fair and transparent elections to allow for a change of government,” said the leader of the Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo).
At a press conference in Maputo on the 50th anniversary of independence, which will be celebrated on June 25, Ossufo Momade launched a broad criticism of the electoral processes in the country, starting with the first multiparty elections.
“Since 1994, all elections, whether general, provincial or municipal, have been characterised by fraud, grossly undermining the will expressed at the ballot box,” he accused.
“Unfortunately, this collective will embodied by us, Renamo, continues to be a dream postponed by the various governments imposed during the 50 years of national independence that we will celebrate tomorrow [June 25],” he added.
Renamo, Mozambique’s oldest opposition party, lost its status as the second most voted political force in the general elections of October 9, 2024, falling from 60 MPs in the 2019 legislative elections to 28, with the People’s Optimistic Party for the Development of Mozambique (Podemos), which had never before had an MP, taking that position.
At today’s press conference, the Renamo leader challenged the current Frelimo government to move forward with the depoliticisation of the state, the fight against corruption and citizen-centred governance.
“Mozambique is known around the world as an unstable nation, especially in post-election periods, a country that is intolerant of human rights and fundamental freedoms, one of the most corrupt countries on the planet, one of the poorest in the world, where people die from lack of basic food and drinking water,” criticised the Renamo leader.
Momade also criticised the lack of health services and schools over the past 50 years, which he said had impeded the well-being of the public.
“After 50 years, public transport is scarce and precarious, and both primary and tertiary roads are so degraded that they severely hamper national development. In 50 years, we have not achieved total and complete independence,” said Ossufo Momade, calling on the government to come up with a concrete plan for economic independence based on the country’s resources.
Ossufo Momade also pointed out that the 50 years of independence are being celebrated in a context in which the country is facing an armed rebellion in Cabo Delgado, with attacks by armed men since 2017, including abductions, kidnappings and murders of albino citizens, and also called for government action to stop these crimes.
The current leader of Renamo was a presidential candidate in the general elections of October 9, 2024, obtaining 6% of the votes, the worst result for a candidate supported by the party, the main opposition force in Mozambique since the first elections in 1994.
For 16 years, Mozambique was embroiled in a civil war between the government army and Renamo, which ended with the signing of the General Peace Agreement in Rome in 1992 between then President Joaquim Chissano and Afonso Dhlakama, the historic leader of Renamo, paving the way for the first elections two years later.
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