MAPUTO: Security forces prevented people from reaching the airport in Mozambique’s capital on Thursday as the opposition leader Venancio Mondlane was due to arrive home from exile to push his claim that he won presidential elections.
At one of several barriers erected around the airport, security forces shot and wounded one of hundreds of mostly young people wanting to reach the airport to welcome Mondlane home, an AFP reporter at the scene said.
Mondlane announced last week that he would land at Maputo’s international airport at around 8:00 a.m. (0600 GMT) in a bid to continue his demand for “electoral truth” after the October vote.
He claims that the election was rigged in favor of the candidate of the ruling Frelimo party, Daniel Chapo, who is due to be sworn in on January 15.
The election dispute has unleashed waves of violence that have left around 300 people dead, including protesters killed in a police crackdown, according to a tally by a local rights group.
Authorities say police have also been killed and there has been looting and vandalism.
There are fears that the charismatic Mondlane could be arrested on his return, including on charges related to the weeks of protests by his supporters, many of them young Mozambicans desperate for change after 50 years under Frelimo.
Any government action against Mondlane could send Mozambique — still scarred by years of civil war — into a major crisis, analysts said.
“If the government arrests Venancio, there will be an international outcry and potentially very dangerous demonstrations,” said Eric Morier-Genoud, an African history professor at Queen’s University Belfast.
“If they don’t arrest him, he will occupy the center and Frelimo will be weakened just a few days before the inauguration of the deputies and the president.”
Mondlane’s return gives people hope, said Fatima Pinto, 20, who trained as a general medical technician.
“We young people are here fighting for our tomorrow,” she said, echoing a key complaint among the youth about not being able to find work that matches their qualifications.
Chapo, 48, takes over from President Filipe Nyusi, who bows out at the end of his two-term limit. Official results gave him 65 percent of the vote compared to 24 percent for Mondlane.
But observers said they noted irregularities.
Since he went into hiding after the October 19 assassination of his lawyer, Mondlane has rallied his supporters via social media live addresses that have been joined by thousands.
By returning, Mondlane will “reclaim the political initiative,” Morier-Genoud said, with the population “more militant than ever.”
The unrest has caused major losses to Mozambique’s economy, stopping cross-border trade. Shipping, mining and industry has also been affected while thousands of people are reported to have fled to neighboring countries.
Mondlane’s return “will either destabilize or resolve the current political crisis,” said Tendai Mbanje, analyst at the Johannesburg-based African Center for Governance.
With tensions running high, there are even fears he could be assassinated, as some of his supporters have been, Mbanje said.
“He is the current hope and future of the youths: if his life is at risk or tampered with, that will be a source of unending instability,” he said.
“On the other hand, if Frelimo would like to unite the country, it is time that they take his return as an opportunity for dialogue.”
Any attempt to harm Mondlane would unleash a “big demonstration with unpredictable consequences,” said Mozambican sociologist Joao Feijo.
“We are talking about a population that has already tasted disobedience and is not afraid of anything else,” he said.
Tailor Americo Bulule, 52, said he hoped that the security forces would allow people to go to the airport to welcome Venancio.
“There’s already been a lot of bloodshed so I’d like his arrival not to be a problem and the police to give the population access and we can go there to receive him without weapons and tear gas,” he said.

KABUL:The Taliban’s foreign office said they saw India as a “significant regional and economic partner” after meeting with its most senior foreign ministry official, the highest level talks with Delhi since their takeover of Afghanistan in 2021.
India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri met acting Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in Dubai on Wednesday.
Afghanistan’s foreign ministry said in a statement that they had discussed expanding relations with Afghanistan and to boost trade through Chabahar Port in Iran, which India has been developing for goods to bypass the ports of Karachi and Gwadar in its rival Pakistan.
“In line with Afghanistan’s balanced and economy-focused foreign policy, the Islamic Emirate aims to strengthen political and economic ties with India as a significant regional and economic partner,” the statement from Afghanistan’s foreign ministry said late on Wednesday.
India’s foreign ministry said after the Delhi meeting that India was considering engaging in development projects in Afghanistan and looking to boost trade ties.
No foreign government, including India, officially recognizes the Taliban administration.
However, India is one of several countries with a small mission in Kabul to facilitate trade, aid and medical support and has sent humanitarian aid to Afghanistan under the Taliban.
Regional players including China and Russia have signalled they are willing to boost trade and investment in Afghanistan.
The Delhi meeting could ruffle Pakistan, which borders both countries and has fought three wars in the past against India.
Pakistan and Afghanistan also have a strained relationship, with Pakistan saying that several militant attacks that have occurred in its country have been launched from Afghan soil — a charge the Afghan Taliban denies.
Earlier this week India’s foreign office told journalists they condemned airstrikes conducted late last year by Pakistan on Afghan soil.