Mozambique's opposition leader accuses police of fanning post-poll unrest

Mozambique's main opposition leader Venancio Mondlane on Thursday accused security forces of encouraging looting and unrest to allow the ruling party to declare a state of emergency after contested elections.

The southern African country's highest court confirmed on Monday that Frelimo, in power since independence from Portugal in 1975, won the October 9 presidential election that had already triggered weeks of deadly unrest, claiming dozens of lives and a mass jailbreak of over 1,000 detainees from a high-security prison.

Frelimo leader Daniel Chapo won 65.17 percent of the vote. Chapo's main challenger, Venancio Mondlane, has claimed the election was rigged and declared he intends to take office.

"Our protests target the Constitutional Council, the election commission, the Frelimo party itself which are responsible for fraud," Mondlane said on social media.

He said there was "no police action" against looters, adding that they were "almost encouraging people to attack and steal".

"It is clear that these acts of vandalism are linked to a plan... to declare a state of emergency," he said.

US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller had said there was "a lack of transparency" about the results and urged all parties to "refrain from violence and engage in meaningful collaboration to restore peace and foster unity".

The unrest has claimed the lives of at least 150 people, according to several NGO reports.

AFP