Today in Maputo, the electoral consortium Mais Integridade (More Integrity) called into question the religious faith of senior representatives of the National Electoral Commission (CNE) for allowing the biggest electoral fraud of all time in Mozambique.

On October 11, 2023, Mozambique elected the mayors of 65 municipalities, with the Frelimo party, in power since independence, winning 64 of them. It only lost in the city of Beira, and even so, the winning party, the Democratic Movement of Mozambique (MDM), claims thousands of its votes were siphoned off in favor of Frelimo.

"Throughout history, the CNE has been run by people who are considered to be religious. But the behavior of this body in the elections shows that, although the leaders are religious, they have little or no respect and also make us start to have doubts about faith and religious men," said the president of the consortium, Edson Cortês, today in Maputo. Read more...

Referred to by the consortium, the CNE's first president was the Catholic priest Brazão Mazula; the Presbyterian church pastor Reverend Arão Litsure; the Islamic Sheik Abdul Carimo, now deceased; the Reverend Dom Carlos Matsinhe (the current one). But Methodist Jamisse Taimo also held office, including professor-doctor Joao Leopoldo da Costa.

The independent observers, who witnessed the conduct of the elections in all the municipalities in the country, believe that, from 1994 to the present day, the presidents of the CNE "have behaved like a group of mafiosi at the service of the Frelimo party and have increasingly shown themselves to be a gang that is out to serve its interests".

According to the source, the recurring way in which Frelimo has won elections shows that the party "doesn't need voters for anything at all".

"What happened in these elections, and if the CNE/STAE don't do anything about it, has the potential to significantly reduce voter turnout in the next general elections," warns the president of the consortium.