A presidential candidate from the Podemos party in the October 9 elections in Mozambique, Paulo Guambe, has been assassinated.
AFP reports that Guambe was killed alongside the lawyer for Mozambique’s leading opposition candidate, Venancio Mondlane, who ran for president in the October 9 elections.
Guambe and the lawyer, Elvino Dias, were gunned down in Maputo on Saturday.
The report added that witnesses recounted that two gunmen shot up their car while it was immobile on a road in the centre of the capital.
Albino Forquilha, a leader of Podemos head confirmed the killings to AFP, while the national lawyers’ association expressed “deep shock” at Dias’s death.
Similarly, a civil society observer group, Mais Integridade, described the “repugnant” murders as an “act of intimidation” undermining democracy.
Meanwhile, Police said an investigation had been started but did not immediately confirm the identities of the two slain men.
Condemning the killings, the European Union issued a statement calling for a full and transparent investigation “that will bring to justice those responsible for this outrageous crime.”
It further said, “In a democracy, there is no place for politically motivated killings.”
The official results from the nationwide elections are due to be published on October 24 and Mozambiqans are eagerly awaiting the outcome of an election that was highly contested.
The Frelimo party has ruled Mozambique since its independence 49 years ago, but Mondlane, who mounted a spirited challenge, claimed victory almost immediately after polling day.
He has alleged electoral fraud as Frelimo claims to be leading in the ballot counts, and has called for demonstrations on Monday.
