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October’s reports

Friday 29th November 2024

End of day summary

Road blocks and protests continue today, but there seem to be less reports of police-protestor clashes than yesterday.

Canal Moz is reporting that protesters blocked the N1 today (The main North South road in Mozambique) from 8am. The road block was in Jangamo, which is just south of the turn of Inhambane. They also report protestors refusing to move even when fired on with tear gas.

There are unconfirmed reports of multiple road blocks set up during the day. Some of these are refusing to allow traffic to move. Others checking for Mondlane supporting posters in vehicles, others extorting money from passing vehicles.

There are unconfirmed reports that the Ressano Garcia (Lebombo) border remained closed for most of the day as the road leading to the border was again blocked by protesters.

Mondlane spoke last night and again repeated that the Christmas and New year celebrations will have to be missed this year to focus on the protests. It is widely expected that the Constitutional Council (the final body to ratify the election results) will announce their decision around the 23^rd or 24^th of December.

The question is of course now what next.

If protesters are following Venancio Mondlane’s instructions the protests should stop this evening. However much of the violence and protest that has happened in the last few days did not follow the instructions he gave. Tomorrow may well be calm and peaceful in the cities, but this is not to be guaranteed, so please approach tomorrow with some caution until the situation on the streets becomes clear.

It is not clear what the next demonstrations will involve, but chances are it will be announced and implemented early next week.  And, as his recent statement shows the plan is for this to continue.

As the talks between the presidential candidates indefinitely postponed there does not seem to be any negotiation in sight between Venancio Mondlane and the Frelimo government.

Thursday 28th November 2024

End of day summary

It has been another day of protest, violence and counter violence in the capital and in other urban centres.

The format for the day has remained similar to yesterday and is expected to carry on tomorrow. There have been reports of specific instances that are worth noting today.

Venâncio Mondlane spoke yesterday late (after I wrote yesterday’s email). He said nothing substantive about this phase of the protest. But he did say that sacrifices must be made and that there will not be a Christmas holiday. That gives an indication that the original plan, that this was the final phase of the protest, has now been scrapped.

Yesterday I mentioned that an armoured vehicle had run into a protestor yesterday. This seems to have caused more controversy than other examples of violence from the security forces. A joint statement was issues by several western embassies including the US and Norway condemning the violence and asking for an independent investigation.

Club of Mozambique has a report from Maputo this morning at 8am
They are also reporting on the blocked roads in the capital.

We have had unconfirmed reports that the Ressano Garcia border has been open today.

Canal Moz are reporting serious violence in Inhassorro. They are reporting police firing into a crowd which lead to a series of retaliations including a police officer being stoned to death and several buildings being set alight.

They are also reporting violence in Zimpeto market where the police opened fire on market traders and Canal Moz is reporting that one was killed. The market traders retaliated and destroyed the police post within the market.

Like yesterday, there are unconfirmed reports of tyre burning and roadblocks around Maputo, Matola and in other parts of the country.

Tomorrow looks set for more of the same. As it is the final day of this phase of protests the protests could continue later into the evening tomorrow. In theory things should calm down again over the weekend, but as time is going on predicting what will happen next is becoming more challenging. My recommendations remain the same as yesterday.

• Avoid travelling in cities if you can.
• Avoid using the Ressano Garcia border.
• If you must travel in a city, ensure your travel is done early morning before the rush hour traffic builds up.
• Ensure you have pro-Venancio posters clearly displayed in your vehicle, ideally on the front, back and side windows. This is essential for safety and there have been reports of roadblocks checking vehicles for these posters.
• If you are in the city do not attempt to travel during after 8am unless it is an emergency.

Below are some suggestions of slogans to write out and have clearly visible in your vehicle windows. I suggest having these ready in case you need to travel for any reason.

Povo no Poder
Estamos Juntos
Artigo 80
Hora da Justiça
VM7
Anamalala

Stay safe tomorrow.

Wednesday 27th November 2024

End of day summary

Today marked a return to protests and violence on the streets of Maputo, Matola and other cities. There are reports of police shootings in Nampula and Maputo with several people being killed.
This morning descended quickly into traffic chaos in Maputo and Matola. There were unconfirmed reports of problems on the toll road linking the two cities. There were many videos showing stationary traffic this morning, including along Avenida marginal. The police sealed off part of Avendia Julius Nyerere presumably to protect the presidential palace.

During the morning there were videos and reports of protestors setting up road blocks with burning tyres and other debris. There are unconfirmed reports of road blocks checking vehicles for pro-Venancio posters before being allowed to pass.

There were also security services on the street. There was a widely circulated video of an armoured vehicle running over a protestor.  Be aware this video is graphic. This triggered further violence and a running battle between protestors and security services.
The CDD are reporting that a house was tear gassed and two protestors were shot in Nampula today.

Canal Moz have shown that the road to the airport has again been blocked
There are unconfirmed reports that the road to the Ressano Garcia (Lebombo) border has been blocked which has closed the border for most of the day.

As instructed by Venancio there did seemed to be blocked roads and singing from 15:30 to 16:00

This has been a step change from the previous stage of protest with a return to violence both on the side of the protestors and security forces. Venâncio has not stepped in, condemned violence or asking it to stop this evening.

Predicting what will happen next is hard to do, but if the next two days follow a similar pattern to today then there a few things to think about

• Avoid travelling in cities if you can.
• Do not attempt to use the Ressano Garcia border.
• If you must travel in a city ensure your travel is done early morning before the rush hour traffic builds up.
• Ensure you have pro-Venancio posters clearly displayed in your vehicle, ideally on the front, back and side windows. This is essential for safety and there have been reports of road blocks checking vehicles for these posters.
• If you are in the city do not attempt to travel during the day unless it is an emergency (8:00 to 16:00)

Tomorrow evening will be unpredictable, stormy weather this evening has ensured there is little protest activity. If people are following Venancio’s calls then the evening should be peaceful, but do not rely on this.

Below are some suggestions of slogans to write out and have clearly visible in your vehicle windows. I suggest having these ready in case you need to travel for any reason.

Povo no Poder
Estamos Juntos
Artigo 80
Hora da Justiça
VM7
Anamalala

Stay safe tomorrow.

Tuesday 26th November 2024

End of day summary

The past few days have been overall calm and peaceful, but that looks to change with major disruption planned for the next three days.

This afternoon there was a scheduled meeting called by the current president Nyusi. This was to a meeting for all the presidential candidates to meet and discuss the current situation. The CDD is reporting that Mondlane offered to go to the talks virtually unless charges against him within Mozambique were dropped. They report that Nyusi remained silent on the request to join virtually and for the request for charges to be dropped. The other candidates who did attend the meeting decided to postpone it as they consider Mondlane’s presence there essential to the dialogue.

Venâncio Made another live speech on Facebook laying out the plans for protests for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday this week.

He is asking for vehicles on the roads (cars, bicycles, txopelas) to have posters on them. The posters list his demands to the government. As with the previous protest there is a timetable.

• 8:00 AM: Vehicles should be parked on the road. He is asking vehicle owners to turn off their engines, leave their cars in the middle of the road, and continue their journey to work on foot.
• He states it will be a regular workday until 15:30
• 15:30 Is time to sing the national anthem.
• 15:45 Is time to sing the African anthem.
• 16:00 Is time to return to your vehicle and head home.
• No one should leave there home after 16:00
• 21:00: Return with panelas (pot-banging protests)

If this goes as planned there will be severe disruption across the country including the borders. How severe is impossible to see until tomorrow. There was a lot of adherence to his commands last week so it is likely that there will be this week.

I recommend being very cautious about driving during the day for the next three days (if it is even possible). I also recommend being very cautious about finding ways around the parked cars, such as bikes or walking. If finding a way around the parked vehicles is seen as not showing solidarity with the protest this could be a dangerous thing to do as it could anger those on the street. Also bear in mind tomorrow is forecast as a very hot day.

There is no mention of any particular colours of clothing to wear, but I strongly recommend continuing to avoid wearing anything red. Wearing black was specific to the last phase of the protest which was a specific mourning protest for those who have died in the protests. It may be that wearing black will be seen as showing solidarity with the protest, this is unclear.

Monday 25th November 2024

End of day summary

Friday played out in Maputo and other cities as Venâncio planned. There are many videos on social media of Mozambican’s singing the national anthem in shops, their workplace and on the street. The last week of protest has overall, been non-violent and police seem to have resisted firing on protestors. It was a calmer week, and many things returned to normal over the weekend.

However, there is still the potential for disruption. There were last week several incidents of roads being blocked to traffic by protesters. There is little reporting of these incidents, but I have several first-hand stories of them happening. It is still important to stay alert and aware of the current instructions from Venâncio. Avoiding wearing red (the colour of Frelimo) clothing is at present a good idea.

Stage 2 of phase 4 has now needed and there have been no further instructions. It was reported that Venâncio would speak this evening, Monday, but that has not happened as yet. Venâncio has accepted Presidents Nyusi’s invitation to meet (reported by CIP). It is possible that there will be little further action until these talks have completed.

I will provide an update once it is clear what the next stage of the protest will look like.

Thursday 21st November 2024

End of day summary

Today and yesterday have largely panned out according to toe Venâncio Mondlane’s plan.
At midday cars have stopped and honked their horns and some people have taken to the streets at this time, wearing black, making noise and blowing whistles. There are many videos on social media showing this in action. You can see two here from Canal Moz. Video 1, Video 2

There has been no reports of police firing tear gas or shooting protestors at these midday protests.

The evening Panelas (bashing of pots and pans) have continued, but as Venancio requested, it has returned as a protest within people’s homes, not in the street.

There have been no further reports of disruption at the Ressano Garcia (Lebombo) border.

Venancio Mondlane spoke again this afternoon (Thursday). His plan for Friday seems complicated and I will try my best to outline it here.

12:00 to 12:15 all cars stop and use horns (the same as the last two days)

12:15 to 13:00 Cars all move but use horns (again the same as before)

13:00 All cars stop on public roads and sing the national anthem for 25 minutes in honour of Elvino Dias and Paula Guambe (the two killed at the start of the protests)

21:00 Panelas, bashing of pots and pans (as before)

23:00 to 02:00 (Saturday) hold a vigil and pray for those who have died.

As always it is hard to predict what will happen. In the last few days things have remained calm, but it is still good to stay alert and avoid crowds. I would recommend avoiding using the roads in the middle of the day if you can. It is highly likely that the weekend will then be a period of calm before an announcement of stage 3 of phase 4. It has been announced that phase 4 is the final stage of the protests. But it has not been announced how many stages will be involved in this stage.

Unless there are major incidents or changes over the next few days, I will send a further update once we know what stage 3 will look like.

Tuesday 19th November 2024

End of day summary

There has been relative calm in most cities for the past few days. The panelas in the evening (bashing of pots and pans) has evolved and in many places has spilled out onto the streets. The police continue to shoot live bullets and use tear gas on groups of demonstrators. Venancio Mondlane is claiming that 50 Mozambicans have been killed by police. The numbers are not tracked by the government. Verdade has put the number higher at 84. The UN have now issued a statement saying the violence and repression must stop.

Venâncio Mondlane did another live video earlier today where he announced phase 4 stage 2 of the protests.

Venâncio spoke out against vandalism. He has declared the next three days (Wednesday 20^th November to Friday 22^nd November) to be days of mourning for those killed during the protests. During these days he has called for

• People to wear black, or at least something black.
• Continue with the panelas (bashing of pots and pans) at 9pm, but only within homes. He is again distancing himself and his supporters from acts of violence and vandalism.
• Cars
  • Between 12 and 12:15 all cars should stop where they are for the 15 minutes
  • Between 12 and 1pm all cars should honk their horns. Those without cars can put protest signs along the road at this time
• Work can carry on as normal

Border update

It is reported that The Ressano Garcia border is starting to return to normal after the blockades that have been in place. However it is unclear how stable the border situation is.

What will happen over the next few days?

It is getting harder to predict what will happen after Venâncio’s announcements. It is impossible to tell if the majority of protestors will follow his request to not go out and protests on the streets. Going out from 9pm onwards in any city should only be done with extreme levels of caution. I would also suggest avoiding being on the road between midday and 1pm for the next few days. 

Saturday 16th November 2024

End of day summary

The weekend has not been calm as expected.

Last night (Friday night) there was more Panelas (basing of pots and pans). Previously this type of protest has been people banging pots and pans and blowing whistles in their homes. Yesterday evening around 9pm this transformed to street protests with large numbers of people on the streets bashing pots and pans, blowing whistles and making a lot of noise. This is confirmed with multiple reports in large areas of Matola and Maputo. The majority of the protests were peaceful, but there are reports of the police shotting protesters. See the CDD Facebook page for details of police shootings.

Today (Saturday) during the day saw a teachers protest. The police did initially fire tear gas into the protest, but afterwards it seemed to continue peacefully with a police escort.

Panelas have returned on tonight with protestors out in large numbers on the streets again. There are confirmed reports of protestors burning tyres on Avenda Palmar (by the Portugueses school). There are lots of videos of protests in various locations including Avenida marginal. But as it is the weekend getting confirmed reports of the situation is slower than usual.

The situation in Ressano Garcia remains tense, and this is an area that should still be avoided.

Venancio Mondlane has asked for Panelas very night for the next few days and has stated his announcement about the next stage will now be on Tuesday the 19^th.

The last two night the Panelas protests have started around 9pm so I would recommend avoiding being out in any city after this time for the next few days.

Friday 15th November 2024

End of day summary

The last 3 day strike period has been different to other strikes so far.

The Ressano Garcia(Lebombo) border has continued to be a focus of protest with the border shutting and opening regularly through the strike period. However, relationships between the police/army and protestors have changed here. Videos show a relaxed relationship between the sides and there have been no reports of police shooting bullets or tear gas at the crowd. Crowds have blocked the border simply by standing in the road in large numbers and the police have allowed this. When the road becomes clear, goods have flowed over the border. However, this is still a location to avoid and one that could easily turn violent with very little notice.

Central Maputo and most of the outlying neighbourhoods have remained calm. There is still armoured vehicles and a large police / army presence on the streets. There have been some protests in Matola neighbourhoods which again the police have turned violent. There are unconfirmed reports that the Mapto to Matola road has been blocked at times.
There has been more violence in other areas of Mozambique. On Wednesday the police fired tear gas at the local mayor.  This has led to further protests and violence in the city. There has been violence in Xai Xai after the police fired at protestors with tear gas.

Venancio Mondlane’s Facebook live last night announced a few things. The first was a call for more people to be on the streets today (Friday). The second was to state that there would now be a pause in the protests/strikes and that the next stage of the protests (Stage two of phase four, with phase four being the final stage) would be after the SADC conference on Mozambique. This conference runs from tomorrow (16th November) until the 20th. This means that most, possibly all of next week should be a period of calm.
On this basis there will be less updates next week and none over the weekend. I will post updates next week as and when relevant news arrives.

Wednesday 13th November 2024

End of day summary

Wednesday was the first day of stage one, phase four of the strikes / protests. The instructions from Venâncio Mondlane for this stage were to protest in all regional capitals and block all land and sea ports.

It was a mixed day.

Ressano Garcia (Lebombo)
The port was blocked for a substantial period of time. In the morning the road was blocked by trucks. They were cleared and then there was a mass peaceful protest blocking the road and unusually the police did not respond with bullets and tear gas. The protestors peacefully filled the road and blocked traffic. Reported by Canal Moz and others.

Maputo
Maputo was very quite. Many businesses were shut, but many were also open. Supplies had started to flow from the borders, but there was very little sign of protest. There were more police present than a normal day, but the police presence was much smaller than last week. There were some small protests and one of the roads between Matola and Maputo was blocked for a while. The CIP is reporting that the ports in Matola and Maputo were closed, but this does not seem to be reported elsewhere.

Nampula and Zambezia
Further north in Nampula there were larger protests and these were met with violence from the police. The CIP  are reporting the police using bullets and tear gas on the protestors. They are reporting 7 people are dead after being shot by the police. . The CDD are reporting a fatal police shooting in Quelimine, Zambezia as well as the mayor being tear gased.

Looking forward

As always it is difficult to predict what will come next. The Ressano Garcia border should be avoided. It is likely that the weekend will be a period of calm before the next phase of protests.

Monday 11th November 2024

End of day summary

Maputo and the majority of the country was calm over the weekend and into Monday. There was still a strong police and military presence on the streets of Maputo.

The Ressano Garcia (Lebombo) border has partially re-opened but my understanding is that it’s priority is ensuring that people can return to their own country and that goods flow across the border. The South African border management authority repeated their advice for South African’s to delay all non-essential travel to Mozambique.

Venâncio Mondlane spoke this evening and announced that stage four (which he has previously stated will be the final stage of the protests) will be split into several stages. He did not indicate how many phases or what any further stages will involve.

The first stage of protests will involve protests on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday this week (14th to the 16th of November). Venâncio stated that

• Protests will happen in every regional capital
• Protests will happen at all land borders, Ressano Garcia was specifically mentioned
• He said that trucks would be asked to stop but this would not be enforced.
• Protests at ports

He stated that protests will happen at these places for the full three days.

Friday 7th November 2024

End of day summary

Please excuse my gloomy summary at the end of the day yesterday. It was a challenging day for us all.

Today was a quiet day in Maputo and across the country. There were no confirmed reports of protests. However, many schools, businesses and shops remained closed. It is expected that these will gradually re-open over the weekend and that everything will be fully open by Monday.

There has been no further update from Venancio Mondlane. He had stated that there would be four stages to the protest.  This last 8 day strike cumulating in yesterday’s violence was stage three. So, it is expected that he will make an announcement about this in the coming days.

The Ressano Garcia (Komatipoort) border remains fully closed for tourist traffic but is slowly starting to re-open for other traffic.

This page will only be updated over the weekend if there are any major announcements, incidents or changes. Otherwise there will be an update on Monday.

Have a peaceful weekend.

Thursday 7th November 2024 – Strike Day

End of day summary

Early morning videos and images show large amounts of police troops and armored vehicles in the city.  This morning there were many videos showing large numbers of people moving out of the outlying neighborhoods of Maputo, presumed to be walking towards the city.  

The secuity force tactics seemed to be to prevent access to the central city through road blocks and protection of key sites – Canal moz
Avenida Acordos de Lusaka (the main route from the city to the airport) has again been blocked. Canal Moz 
There are large numbers of videos circulating on social media of police and army firing tear gas and bullets at crowds. One video shows police firing tear gas at a group of protestors kneeling on the ground. There has been a lot of violence and death today.
The CCD Moz Facebook page has a range of stories through the day of violence and killings. Be warned, some of the images are graphic. The CCD are stating Mozambique to in a state of civil war. 

Club of Mozambique has an update of what is happening this evening. 
This eveing there are again many videos circulating of the loud banging of pans from apartment blocks in many areas of the city. 

South African government advices South African’s to postpone all none essential visits 

In his evening live address on Facebook Venâncio Mondlane has said that the strike will continue. Venâncio has made several demand that must be met before the protests will stop. These include: 

Electoral truth is restored 

An end to kidnappings 

End of Terrorism. 
But the main focus is on the election results. 

 It is unclear what will happen tomorrow, but the general message is that the strike and protests continue.

Wednesday 6th November 2024 – Strike Day

End of day summary

Overall it has been a quiet day in most cities including Maputo.

Last night buildings at the Ressano Garcia border were set alight and border staff had to take refuge on the South African side of the border. There are also unconfirmed reports of protests and looting at kilometre 4 (the location where trucks clear customs). This border is closed and the area is not safe. Any travel plans through this border in the near future should be reconsidered.

Mobile data and Meta services have again been disrupted today.

Tomorrow (Thursday 7^th November) is the main day of the strike. Most western embassies have not given a statement about this. The Canadian embassy has updated their travel advice () and the Portuguese Embassy has given advice about tomorrow. Enjoy Moz has the following thoughts and recommendations about tomorrow

• Stay in a safe place throughout the day.
• Do not travel except in an extreme emergency.
• Expect disruption to data and meta services.
• There may be disruption to calls and text messages.
• Stay informed about the protests.
• Be aware of fake news and fake videos circulating.
• Protests could appear at very short notice and move quickly.
• If you must travel for medical emergency reasons ensure you put a clear large sign stating you have a medical emergency in all windows.

There are unconfirmed reports that the Maputo demonstration will start early (around 8am) and move through several main Maputo streets to meet at the Presidential palace. However previous experience shows that demonstrations do not start that early. There is a map circulating on WhatsApp and Facebook showing this, but it is unconfirmed whether this is the plan the protestors will use.

Please stay safe tomorrow.

Tuesday 5th November 2024 – Strike Day

End of day summary

Overall there seems to be less reported violence and protests today.  But the border at Ressano Garcia remains a flash point with the border being reported open this morning and there are unconfirmed reports that it is closed again this evening with tyres burning in the road.

A new style of protest develop yesterday evening. This involved staying indoors and banging pots and pans  and blowing whistles at a coordinated time in protest. There are videos online of this happening again this evening.

A peaceful march started at the central hospital in Maputo today. Videos shows medical staff to be marching. There have been no reports of this turning violent, which is unusual (on the part of the police or army). The staff are marching against violence in Maputo not the election result.

Venâncio Mondlane did another Facebook live video yesterday evening. In it he made claims that Rwandan troops are on Maputo’s streets. The EU States that they are supporting Rwandan troops in Cabo Delgado. They have seen no evidence of Rwandan troops in Maputo and they are not funding Rwandan troops to be in Maputo.  Venâncio also re-stated that he will join the march on Thursday.
 
There are several pieces of news around the CNE (the body that ran the election). They have a deadline of tomorrow to hand over details of the individual polling station vote counting and the details of the amalgamation of polling centre counts into city and area level counts. This is due for several provinces. You can read more details here.

Also today Podemos (the party that Venâncio Mondlane stood for in the election) has formalised a fraud complaint again the CNE for the way the election results were calculated.

The CDD has reported that the death toll from police and military shooting is now at 24.

The Minister of National Defence held a press conference earlier which you can read about here.  

This evening a range of western embassies including the US have sent out a joint statement about the right to peaceful process and the election process, which you can read here.

 

Monday 4th November 2024 – Strike Day

End of day summary

The clamp down on communication has worsened with mobile data shut down for most of last night and today. Broadband connections continue to function in homes and offices but with restrictions on Meta products (Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp) that can be overcome using a VPN. There have been unconfirmed reports of some issues with local broadband services and unconfirmed reports that some VPNs are no longer managing to bypass the Meta ban.

Today was a day of national tests for Mozambican school children which has led to a lot of children being on the streets and them being caught up in protests

Canal Moz has reported several incidents in Maputo where police have been working alongside peaceful protestors and then army units have appeared and opened fire on the crowd.This has been reported on Mao Tse Tung where students were protesting peacefully, in the Magoanine neighborhood. It has also been reported for a group of protestors that were headed for the presidential palace. The video for this incidentclearly shows the police and protestors moving together and then further vehicles arriving, military personal leaving the vehicle and then shooting starts. The shooting included tear gas, it is uncertain whether bullets were also fired. Venancio Mondlane had another Facebook live last night. In this he claims that when he left Mozambique he fled to South Africa, where he was targeting with assassination in his hotel. He then fled South Africa despite the authorities trying to block his escape. It is thought he is now in Europe. There is so far no verification of this story.

Safety
It feels today that the number of protests and security shootings have increased.This level of protest and violence may continue to grow towards Thursday. As in other days the cities are quietest in the morning and if you must travel this has, so far, been the safest time to do this. Plan ahead so that you do not need to travel on Thursday for any reason.

Sunday 3rd November 2024 – Strike Day

End of day summary

There have been few reports of protests day, which would be expected on a Sunday.

There is still strong indications that there will be a very large protest in Maputo and elsewhere on Thursday and it is not recommended to travel within Mozambique on Thursday.

As this has been a quiet day I will use this as an opportunity for some updates from previous days of incidents that may have been missed or were unconfirmed at the time.

The Frelimo party offices were vandalized and torched in the Maxaquene neighbourhood of Maputo.
In Gile in Zambezia A Frelimo office, a statue and two homes were destroyed.

In Penbane, Zambezia the Frelimo offices were damaged. During the protest the police shot eight people. Two (both children, 14 and 17) died.

Police shot six people in Nacala-Porto and launched tier gas into houses to disperse the protest.

Safety
Previous strike days have shown that mornings tend to be peaceful and the best time to travel if this is essential.

Protests tend to build during the afternoon and evening. Protests can turn violent very quickly and so any gathering should be considered dangerous and avoided.

Avoiding any travel on Thursday the 7^th of November is strongly recommended.

Saturday 2nd November 2024 – Strike Day

End of day summary

Yesterday evening there was a live video on Facebook from Venâncio Mondlane. This was too late to be included in last nights report. The key take away from the video was that he will be at the large protests planned for Thursday the 7th of November. At present he is thought to be abroad due to security concerns.

Thursday the 7th of November in the final day of the strike with Mozambicans from all over the country invited to protest in Maputo.

After reports of the route (Avenda de Acordos De Lusaka) to Maputo airport being blocked last night this was reported as clear again this morning.

Many shops and other businesses were open today, although many also remaining closed. Those that are opening are tending to close mid afternoon.

Canal Moz has reported that there was a peaceful protests held in Beira today.

This afternoon a large gathering of Mozambican Muslims happened outside the central market in Maputo. This is reported to have been an initially peaceful protest. Multiple videos and eye witness reports show police firing on the peaceful protest. Canal Moz is also reporting this story.

There were still some issues accessing Meta services (WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram) today. This does mean less videos and information about protests are available than would be expected.

There are unconfirmed reports of protesters in Nampula blocking the N1 and police retreating from the situation.

There are videos emerging of police firing at a crowd in Xaixai.

There has been a protest in Lisbon about the Mozambican election with the protestors shouting “Venâncio in power”.

News is emerging that the head of the Mozambican secret police was killed in a car accident today.

Strike Day  (1-11-24) report

Canal Moz have given several updates today. They have shown a video of Mozambicans traveling to Maputo. The location of the video is unknown but shoes a large group traveling on foot.
Canal Moz have stated that this afternoon Avenida Acordos de Lusaka (the main road to Maputo airport) was blocked. This has not been  verified elsewhere and as yet there are no clear reports as to whether this route is now clear.

Venâncio Modlane is speaking on Facebook live this evening. An update summarising what he has said will folloe.

There are rumours and WhatsApp messages circulating about protests in Maputo tomorrow, but the validity of the claims is unclear.

Strike Day  (31-10-24) report

Access to Meta services (Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram) via the mobile phone network were disrupted today. This limited peoples ability to organise and protest.

At present you can get around the disruption by:
Connecting to Wifi
Using  VPN

There were reports of some isolated protests in Maputo. Initial reports show them to be peaceful. In one incident police fired tear gas at a crowd in the Polana Caniço neghbourhood of Maputo.

There were reports of protests in other areas of Mozambique including Quilamine. There were sightings on armored vehicles on some streets in Maputo.

The Meta restrictions may mean information from the 31-10-24 may take several days to reach the public doman.

The streets of Maputo have been reported to be generally quiet.

There has been mixed adherence to the strike with some shops and businesses open and others closed. Buying food and other basics has been possible.