Africa-Press – Mozambique. Mozambique’s president on Monday reiterated the need for a “credible, effective and transparent” justice system in the country, saying that good name and reputation are not for sale, as the Constitutional Council (CC) celebrates its 20th anniversary.
“We need an effective and transparent institutional system that assures us that the just, the violated and the offended will not be defeated. Justice cannot have solutions in advance, people and society have to believe in justice,” declared Filipe Nyusi, during a ceremony celebrating the 20th anniversary of Mozambique’s Constitutional Council (CC), in Maputo.
The Mozambican head of state said that the credibility of Justice “is not a given”, nor “a definitive conquest”, noting that there is always a struggle between “good and evil, between corruption and moral integrity”, but that, in the meantime, the law must prevail.
“Our courts may look good and be well-equipped, our judges may wear their most solemn robes, but all this will be worthless if our justice system is not credible, if our judges are not respected,” the president emphasised.
Congratulating the CC on its 20th anniversary, Nyusi also said that the Mozambican justice system must ensure, “through honesty and transparency”, that truth and justice always win.
“For [people] to believe [in Justice] they have to see crimes being punished, the good coming out on top, they have to know that it’s not because you’re rich or powerful that you’re going to win the case, you have to know to the same extent that it’s not because you’re poor or weak that you should be judged right,” declared the statesman.
Filipe Nyusi made these statements at a time when the results of the sixth local elections, held on 11 October, are awaiting validation and proclamation by the Constitutional Council, the country’s highest judicial body.
The local elections in Mozambique are being heavily criticised by different opposition parties and civil society, who denounce “mega-fraud” in the ballot, especially the falsification of official voting notices, with some district court rulings recognising irregularities in the process.
The Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo), the main opposition party, has promoted marches to contest the results of the 11 October elections, bringing together thousands of people in different parts of the country to demand the “restoration of electoral truth”.
More than 100 people have been arrested and several others injured in various parts of the country, especially in the cities of Nampula, Nacala-Porto and Maputo, as a result of skirmishes between the authorities and the demonstrators.
The president of Mozambique and the president of the CC, Lúcia Ribeiro, did not speak about the post-election tension in Mozambique.
The results presented by Mozambique’s National Electoral Commission (CNE) indicate a victory for the ruling Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo) in 64 of the country’s 65 municipalities, while the MDM won only in Beira.
Mozambique’s sixth local elections took place in 65 municipalities on 11 October, including 12 new municipalities, which went to the polls for the first time.
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