One person died and three were injured this morning (October 3) in an attack by gunmen in Gorongosa, Sofala on a Nagi bus travelling from Nampula to Maputo.. The attack took place on the main north-south N1 read near the Pungwe river bridge between Gorongosa and Nhamatanda. The victims were evacuated to Gorongosa Rural Hospital for medical treatment.
The guerrillas ambushed the bus next to a charcoal yard, our correspondents report.
Later, at a press conference in Beira, Sofala Police Spokesperson Daniel Macuácua said the attackers were four men armed with AKM-style assault rifles. Witnesses at the scene reported four dead but police confirmed only one.
This is the second attack in the Pungwe zone and the fourth in the central region since the start of the election campaign. All are blamed on the breakaway ‘Renamo Junta’.
Using children to stop a rally
Frelimo handed out balls to many children and then spent the day organizing football matches on the playing field of Mateus Sansao Muthemba School in Tete on Saturday 26 September. The only problem was that Renamo presidential candidate Ossufo Momade had scheduled his rally for that afternoon on the school plying field. Not wanting to disrupt the playing children, he had to move the rally to Kwachena Kunharitanda market.
Frelimo had done the same thing in Doa, Tete on 11 September where children were organised to play soccer on a field where Renamo had scheduled a rally by its candidate for governor.
Innocent fun, or using children to harass the opposition? All parties are using children, particularly in party parades, often in party t-shirts and hats and carrying party flags and posters. For 2019 General Elections – Mozambique Political Process Bulletin 64-65 – 3 October 2019 3 MDM this included the 16 September parade at the 5th Congress market in Macia, Gaza, and in Funhalouro, Inhambane.
Children joined the Frelimo march on 22 September in Catandica, Barué, Manica; in Machaze on 28 September; and in Milange, Zambezia.
In Nampula, dozens of children stood on the street with Renamo flags and posters in Nacala-aVelha district on 16 September and in Moma on 6 September.
The Network of Communicators and Friends of the Child (RECAC) said in a press release that images of children parading with political party symbols jeopardize the safety and well-being of child: “RECAC calls on all political parties, guardians and society at large to be vigilant against child participation in electoral campaigns.”
Mossurize murder not political, say police
Police in Manica confirmed today (3 October) the murder of Frelimo’s circle secretary in Paúnde, Mossurize, Manica, but say there are no political motivations behind the murder, our correspondents report. “The crime occurred at a time of election campaign and coincidentally with an active member of a political party, but this is not a determining factor in claiming that it was politically motivated,” Police Chief Public Relations in Manica, Mario Arnassa, told reporters. He said three individuals went to the house, shot and killed the man, seized his motorbike, and fled.
Frelimo’s Manica representative Abel Albuquerque confirmed there was no evidence to say the murder was politically motivated.
