The Mozambican police confirmed on Saturday that the car in which Elvino Dias, a lawyer for presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane, and Paulo Guambe, a member of Podemos, the party that supports him, were shot dead, was “ambushed” and a third occupant wounded.
“They were approached and blocked by two light vehicles from which individuals disembarked who, armed with firearms, fired several shots that caused injuries and the death of the individuals identified above,” the spokesman for the Republic of Mozambique Police (PRM) in Maputo city, Leonel Muchina, told Lusa.
The crime took place at around 11:20 p.m. local time (one hour less in Lisbon) on Friday, on Avenida Joaquim Chissano, in the center of the capital, and according to the police another occupant, a woman who was in the back seat of the car, was also shot and was taken to Maputo Central Hospital.
“She was rescued, there is no risk to her life, she was only wounded in the upper limbs,” Muchina explained.
According to the PRM spokesman, the victims had been socializing in a Maputo market, and “supposedly” there had been an “argument over marital matters”, from where “they were subsequently followed”.
“Naturally, we condemn the heinous crime and we guarantee that we are taking all measures to clarify the case,” said Leonel Muchina.
“We call on all political party leaders, list leaders and other figures to refrain from going to places that are exposed and susceptible to crime. And we are, of course, prepared to provide security for all citizens, which is our commitment, to guarantee the free movement of these citizens. We also appeal to people to remain calm and serene,” added the PRM spokesman.
Throughout the early hours of the morning, videos circulated in Mozambique of the extreme violence of the two victims and the car, which was apparently hit by more than two dozen shots.
Lawyer Elvino Dias, a well-known defender of human rights cases in Mozambique, was a legal advisor to Venâncio Mondlane and the Democratic Alliance Coalition (CAD), the political grouping that initially supported the candidate for President of the Republic of Mozambique, until his registration for the October 9 general elections was rejected by the National Electoral Commission (CNE).
Venâncio Mondlane was later supported in his candidacy by the Povo Otimista para o Desenvolvimento de Moçambique (Podemos) party, whose national representative for the legislative and provincial lists, Paulo Guambe, was also in the car that was targeted by the crime.
The general elections on October 9 included the seventh presidential elections - for which the current head of state, Filipe Nyusi, who has reached the two-term limit, is no longer running - at the same time as the seventh legislative elections and the fourth elections for provincial assemblies and governors.
After the polls close, the CNE has 15 days to announce the official results of the elections, which will be on October 24. The Constitutional Council will then proclaim the results, once it has also concluded its analysis of any appeals, but without a set deadline.
The district and provincial election commissions have already completed the tabulation of the vote in the October 9 general elections, which according to the public announcements give an advantage to the Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo, the ruling party) and the presidential candidate that the party supports, Daniel Chapo, with more than 60% of the votes, although presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane disputes these results, claiming that the data from the original minutes and notices of the vote, which he collects throughout the country, are accurate.
Venâncio Mondlane said on Thursday in Beira, central Mozambique, that after the results of the general elections are announced, he will appeal to the Constitutional Council with the original minutes and notices of the vote.
The Portuguese government and the European Union have already condemned these murders.
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