Mozambique’s police chief, Bernardino Rafael, has refuted allegations of officers being involved in attempts to assassinate politicians in the run-up to the local elections scheduled for October.
The mayors of Nampula province, Paulo Vahanle, and Quelimane, Manuel de Araújo, both members of Mozambique’s primary opposition party, the former rebel group Renamo, have claimed to have survived assassination attempts. They have accused police agents of carrying out these attacks.
However, speaking over the weekend, the police chief dismissed these accusations as unfounded and false. He suggested that political parties fabricated these claims to divert attention from their own inadequacies in terms of policy proposals.
Furthermore, he pointed out that such allegations could have negative consequences for the politicians and parties making them, as the same police officers they accuse are also voters.
Bernardino Rafael affirmed that Mozambique’s police force is fully prepared to ensure order and security during the upcoming electoral process.