Daniel Chapo of Mozambique The long-ruling Frelimo party was sworn in as president in a sparsely attended ceremony on Wednesday after months of protests against his controversial election victory.
A local civil society monitoring group says more than 300 people have been killed in clashes with security forces since the Oct. 9 vote, which the opposition says was rigged by Frelimo. was achieved through and Western observers say it was not free and fair.
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Frelimo denies allegations of electoral fraud.
He has ruled since the end of the war against Mozambique. Portuguese colonial government In 1975, a 15-year civil war raged in which more than a million people died before a 1992 ceasefire.
Chapo told a group of about 1,500 supporters from a stage in the capital Maputo that social and political stability would be his government’s top priority.
He also promised to reduce the size of government by reducing the number of ministries, tackle youth unemployment and prioritize health and education.
Reuters witnesses said the city center was largely deserted, with a heavy police and military presence.
Cyril Ramaphosa, President Neighboring South Africawas one of the few heads of state to attend Chapo’s inauguration.
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Opposition leader Venencio Mundlin, who came second to Chapo in the presidential election according to official results, returned from self-imposed exile last week and urged his supporters to continue the protests.
The post-election protests are the largest in Mozambique’s history against Frelimo and have affected foreign businesses employing 35 million people in the resource-rich southern African country. They have also disrupted cross-border trade and forced some to flee to neighboring countries.