Mozambican prosecutors have begun proceedings to indict Venancio Mondlane, leader of the main opposition, on allegations that he fomented the violent demonstrations that erupted after last year’s disputed presidential vote, according to a 40‑page case file shown to him on Tuesday.
Mondlane, who maintains that President Daniel Chapo and the long‑ruling Frelimo party secured victory through ballot‑rigging, was summoned to the prosecutor’s office in Maputo and presented with accusations of incitement and other offences. An adviser to the opposition figure, who shared the document with Reuters, said Mondlane “categorically rejects every claim.”
Officials declined to comment on the investigation. The unrest, which left more than 300 people dead, was the most serious challenge to Frelimo’s grip on power since independence from Portugal in 1975. Western election observers have said the October poll fell short of international standards, though Frelimo denies any fraud.
The move threatens to derail a tentative rapprochement: Chapo and Mondlane met twice earlier this year and the president launched a “national dialogue,” inviting his rival onto a new advisory council. Prosecuting Mondlane now “would undermine the political accommodation hammered out in March,” warned Louw Nel of Oxford Economics Africa.