Mozambique will get a new president amid swirling protests

A “national strike” is being threatened as Mozambique’s president-elect was sworn in on Wednesday, more than three months after a disputed election.

Daniel Chapo, who is 48 years old, got 65% of the votes in a poll opposition leaders, election observers and the public at large said it had gone astray.

The result sparked a wave of demonstrations – some peaceful but others violent – leading to chaos, including killings and vandalism.

Chapo’s biggest rival is Venâncio Mondlane. Last week, he returned from self-imposed exile. He was in South Africa where he says he survived an assassination attempt.

Now he is calling on Mozambicans to go out, once again, on the day of the inauguration “against the thieves of the people”.

Mozambique’s two main opposition parties — Renamo and MDM — say they are boycotting Wednesday’s swearing-in ceremony because they too do not recognize Chapo as the outright winner.

Even those who welcome the president-elect of Mozambique question his legitimacy.

“Chapo is a person I admire a lot,” civil society activist Mirna Chitsungo told the BBC.

“I worked with him for four years, I know his willingness to act, his openness to dialogue and his readiness to follow recommendations about civil society.

“However, he is taking on an illegitimate power. This comes from a fraudulent electoral process… He is taking power in a context that the people do not accept.”

In addition to winning over a hostile public, Chapo will have to halt the economic turnaround and corruption he promised during the campaign.

“Chapo will face many enemies because he seems to be running the Mozambican cartels, including the book cartels, the medicine cartel, the sugar cartel, the drug cartel, the kidnapping cartel, the mafia groups,” says analyst and investigative journalist Luis Nhanchote.

“He must have a strong team of experts, ready to join him in this crusade to dismantle the group strictly,” he added.

“But first, Mozambicans must calm down and do everything in their power to restore peace in the country.”

Daniel Francisco Chapo was born on January 6, 1977 in a place called Inhaminga, in the province of Sofala, the sixth of 10 siblings. These were the years of the civil war in Mozambique, and the armed conflict forced his family to live in another neighborhood.

He completed his secondary education in the coastal city of Beira, graduated in law at the Eduardo Mondlane University and then completed a master’s degree in development management at the Catholic University of Mozambique.

Now married to Gueta Sulemane Chapo, with whom they have three children, Chapo is said to be a churchgoing Christian and a basketball and soccer fan.

Many current and former colleagues describe Chapo as a humble, hardworking and patient leader.

Before becoming the presidential candidate of the ruling Frelimo party, he was a radio and television presenter, a legal notary, a university professor and a provincial governor before becoming Frelimo’s general secretary.

During his recent birthday celebrations, Chapo himself acknowledged the enormous challenge that awaits him to become president.

“We must recover our country economically… destroying it is easy, but building it is not an easy task.”

National reconciliation, creating more jobs, reforming the electoral law and decentralizing power are his main agenda, he said.

But how successful can it be without the country behind it?

At the very least, it will mark a change in President Felipe Nyusi, which Ms. Chitsungo says many Mozambicans will be happy to see behind them.

“Chapo is a figure of dialogue and consensus, not to perpetuate Nyusi’s violent style of government. He has the power to negotiate with Mondlane.

“Although Chapo does not fully meet all of Mondlane’s requirements, I believe he will meet at least 50% of them,” added Ms. Chitsungo.

Mondlane – a part-time pastor and independent candidate who says he was the real winner of the polls – reports that he is sheltering in one of the capital’s hotels. He doesn’t know what security protection he has there, nor who pays for it.

Last week he reported that a vendor near him was shot while he was going to a market in Maputo. echoing the murder of two of his close aides in October.

As the leader of nationwide protests against the disputed election result, he has been seen by many as a voice for the voiceless. However, today, the presidential candidate’s camp does not speak publicly.

However, listening to the public’s complaints and demands, and sometimes ignoring the orders of his ruling Frelimo party, will be key to Chapo’s success, analysts have told the BBC.

Finding some way to constructively engage with Mondlane would certainly be a boost, it seems.

Winning over the public may also require Chapo to say no to “fat salaries and fringe benefits for elites, some of which are 10 times higher than Mozambique’s minimum wage,” says Nhachot.

Moreover, if Chapo is to have any chance of ending the widespread political crisis, he will need the help of others to make permanent and structural changes, according to prominent cleric Anastacio Chembeze.

“Perhaps we should remain skeptical of one person to address Mozambique’s challenges; change must begin within the system.

“We should be in favor of the distribution of powers within the state apparatus, international monopolies have great interests in the country, and we have serious ethical problems to deal with within the political elites.”

Once in office, Chapo is being advised to fire the country’s police chief, Bernadino Rafael, analysts have told the BBC. He denies any wrongdoing, but some consider him to be the mastermind behind the brutal response to the post-election protests.

They say they want to be replaced by a successor who “respects human rights” and complies with international laws and regulations. Another suggestion made by analysts is the introduction of a new attorney general.

Remarkably, Chapo will be the first president of Mozambique who did not fight in the independence war.

“He is part of the new generation. Part of his background is completely different from his predecessors – he was born in a country that was liberated by them,” says Mr Nhachote.

“If he wants to make a real mark in history, he has to deal with those icons of the past. If he can’t (handle that), I’m sure he’ll only run for one term.”