Despite the “Enough!” decreed 20 days ago by Bernardino Rafael, General Commander of the Police of the Republic of Mozambique (PRM), supported by the Minister of the Interior, Reserve Police General Officer Pascoal Ronda, popular demonstrations called by presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane, continue to be a daily occurrence, especially in the cities of Maputo and Matola, with the protests now taking on a new form.
In addition to blocking roads and burning tires, the demonstrators have adopted a new form of protest, which consists of placing mock graves in public spaces, allegedly of members of the Frelimo party, notably the party’s president (Filipe Nyusi), the presidential candidate and Secretary-General of the ruling party (Daniel Chapo) and the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Verónica Macamo, who is also the electoral representative [mandatária] of the ruling party.
In the Zimpeto neighbourhood, for example, there are also graves for the President of the CNE (National Electoral Commission); the Chief of Police; former heads of state Armando Guebuza and Joaquim Chissano; and even a grave awaiting Lúcia da Luz Ribeiro, President of the Constitutional Council.
Throughout the Greater Maputo Metropolitan Area (which includes the cities of Maputo and Matola and the districts of Marracuene and Boane), mock graves with flowers and crosses, T-shirts, photographs and names of members of the ruling party’s leadership can be seen. Some graves are even made of concrete.
During last week’s demonstrations, in some neighbourhoods, drivers were forced to place sand, flowers and water on such ‘graves’ as a condition for passage. Amateur videos shared on social media show even military personnel and police officers being subjected to the ritual, which sometimes includes prayers and songs related to funeral ceremonies.
In an interview with ‘Carta’, Frelimo spokesperson Ludmila Maguni said that the party had been monitoring the situation, which she described as “worrying”. Maguni believes that by erecting ‘graves’ on public roads, the protesters “are trying to wish death on the people they are pointing out”.
“It is quite regrettable that the protesters are behaving in this way. We can only urge people to understand that we are living in a democracy, in which all political parties have the right to coexist in the same space,” Maguni told Carta de Moçambique..
Researcher João Feijó argues that the tombs symbolize “Frelimo’s isolation from the rest of society” and supports his argument with the fact that the party in power, which claims to belong to the people, closed the streets leading to its national headquarters on Thursday during the funeral ceremonies of Fernando Faustino.
“Frelimo is completely isolated from the people,” argues the academic, a specialist in African studies, who suggests that scientific research be carried out on the phenomenon.
According to Feijó, the creation of “tombs” on public roads is nothing new, but he argues that the “intensity and frequency” with which the phenomenon occurs is noteworthy, with the particularity that it occurs largely in the city of Maputo, the country’s capital.
“It is a very important political message and it is being issued in the capital, so close to the Presidency of the Republic. It is a collective letter from the population, who want to bury this regime, who are determined to see it through to the end”, he argues.
“It could also be a sign of a transformation. Power is falling in the streets, even in the city centre, power has fallen. The kids, who live in the upscale neighbourhoods, are taking to the streets and taking part in roadblocks. (…) The question that arises today is which sector of society is with Frelimo, perhaps it is the UIR [riot police], even the UIR, I think there are divisions there, but all the other sectors of society are highly critical of Frelimo”, says the researcher from the Observatório do Meio Rural.
In turn, journalist Tomás Vieira Mário argues that we are facing “sinister” and “unacceptable” practices, in a democracy, especially “at a time of some tension”. “These are abominable rituals, unacceptable, not even as an expression of repudiation, because they go beyond all limits of freedom of electoral expression. Therefore, we cannot look at this lightly,” he says.
According to Tomas Mário, in a democracy there is no intention for either party to die, since there are no enemies, only adversaries. “When one party wants to kill the other, it means that it wants to impose a dictatorship,” he stresses.
The journalist and Executive Director of the Sekelekani Communication Studies and Research Centre, a civil society organisation dedicated to promoting communication for development, argues that it is necessary, on the one hand, for the Police to show in an educational manner that this is a democratic game and, on the other, for presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane, who has called for the demonstrations, to repudiate these acts which, in Vieira Mário’s view, “inspire political intolerance” and which do not add anything to the quality of the protests.
In fact, Tomás Vieira Mário expressed his concern about the involvement of military personnel in these rituals. “I was struck by the strange sight of people who looked like members of the Army collaborating in these rituals. The Army is republican par excellence, so it is very strange for soldiers to take sides in electoral disputes”, he said..
“This shows an Army that is poorly prepared in terms of its republican stance. I assume that the Military Police took the measures, that they were duly warned, it is frightening to see soldiers taking sides in electoral disputes”, he noted.
Pastor Rosy Timane of the’ Ministério Valentes Na Fé’ evangelical church, argues that this type of action may have several interpretations, spiritual and social and political, but, in general, it expresses a feeling of “frustration and despair” of the population “in the face of a government considered oppressive, corrupt or ineffective”.
In political terms, for example, Rosy Timane understands that the tomb can represent the symbolic death of authority, leadership or government. “The population may be saying that they consider that government or those leaders ‘dead’ or that they no longer have the legitimacy to govern”, she states.
“The use of tombs can symbolize the end of a political cycle or regime, a way of declaring that the government or politicians no longer have value or support. This gesture can be a form of radical rejection, suggesting that trust in those figures has been buried”, she said.
On a spiritual level,Pastor Timane, the image of the tomb represents the end of something, but it can also be seen as the beginning of a new cycle. “The protest can carry a symbolism of renewal, where the end of a corrupt or ineffective leadership makes way for a new, hopeful and fairer phase. In some religions, the act of burial can be associated with a call for divine justice. People may be expressing the desire for a higher power to bring a resolution to the corruption or injustice they perceive in the Government”, she said.
It should be noted that, in addition to tombs, protesters have already taken to the streets with coffins, claiming to be mourning the party in power, while others have paraded half-naked and others chained by individuals wearing the clothing of the party in power, in a staging that refers to slavery.
