Africa-Press – Mozambique. Mozambican police Rapid Intervention Unit personnel fired live rounds today to disperse protesters blocking the main road connecting Bobole and Marracuane district in Maputo province.
The protesters, mainly traders from a local market, had blocked National Road Number 1 (N1) since early Tuesday evening in Bobole, 50 kilometres from the centre of Maputo, forcing a truck driver to leave his vehicle in the middle of the road.
To dispel the group, the police, supported by one armoured and two other police vehicles, fired live rounds and tear gas canisters at around 10:00 a.m. today.
The operation caused chaos, with dozens of screaming protesters fleeing into the market located alongside the road.
“The population is angry, especially now that they have started shooting,” Bobole resident Jaime Marcos told Lusa.
By the end of the morning, the N1 was again open, but only conditional on a strong police presence, which, in addition to guarding the area, also escorted some cargo trucks to safety.
In addition to the repeated demand for “electoral truth”, one of the main reasons behind the protest is the cost of living, especially the price of cement.
“We didn’t come here to steal anything, we just want the price of products to go down, especially cement, because our president Venâncio Mondlane (the defeated candidate in the presidential elections) has already said that the price of cement has to go down,” Lara Lileme, a shopkeeper among the protesters told Lusa.
The population accuses the authorities of having shot people during the operations, threatening to again block the main road that connects the south, centre and north of the country.
“They are firing live rounds, and have been shooting people here. This will not stop. They should reduce the price of things or talk to our president. We listen to our president,” Cornélio Mata, another protester, told Lusa, referring not to elected president Daniel Chapo but to the defeated presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane.
Bobole has seen intense clashes between police and protesters during the last three months of the post-election crisis, and it was also one of the first points that former presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane visited after return to Mozambique on January 9.
Mozambique is experiencing a climate of strong social unrest, protests, demonstrations and strikes, called by Mondlane, who does not accept the election results, with clashes between police and protesters, which have caused at least 315 deaths, and around 750 people shot, according to the electoral platform Decide, a non-governmental organization that monitors the electoral processes.
For More News And Analysis About Mozambique Follow Africa-Press
