Mozambique top court confirms ruling party victory in disputed election

Mozambican Consitutional Council President Lucia Ribeiro (C) announce the results of the 2024 presidential elections in Maputo on December 23, 2025. – The Constitutional Council of Mozambique ratified on Monday the electoral victory of Frelimo, in power for half a century, in the October elections, questioned by street protests that caused more than a hundred deaths. The presidential candidate of the ruling party, Daniel Chapo, obtained 65% of the votes, the country’s highest court ruled, revising downward the initial results of almost 71%. | Photo Credit: AFP

Mozambique’s top court on Monday (December 23, 2024) confirmed the ruling party Frelimo’s victory in an October election which has sparked massive protests by opposition groups who say the vote was rigged.

The Constitutional Council has the final say over the electoral process and its ruling is likely to spark further protests in Mozambique, a Southern African country of close to 35 million people which Frelimo has governed since 1975.

Provisional results from electoral commission, which has not commented on allegations of fraud, showed Frelimo’s Daniel Chapo won the presidency by a landslide while the party increased its majority in parliament.

The Constitutional Council validated the results on Monday.

Western observers have said the election was not free and fair.

Frelimo has in the past denied vote-rigging accusations.

The post-election period has seen the biggest protests against Frelimo in Mozambique’s history. At least 130 people have been killed in clashes with police, according to the civil society monitoring group Plataforma Decide.

Published – December 23, 2024 09:53 pm IST