The investigator of the Center for Public Integrity (CIP), Lázaro Mabunda, is of the opinion that the politician Venâncio Mondlane and the Optimist Party for the Development of Mozambique (PODEMOS) have missed the opportunity to demonstrate transparency in dealing with matters of popular interest.

In an interview with DW, Mabunda referred to the fact that the parties had not made public the Coalition Agreement of August 21, 2024, in which the signatories set out their obligations and duties.

For the CIP investigator, a publication of the agreement would demonstrate, in some way, that both Venâncio Mondlane and PODEMOS are committed to transparency, not least because it is a value defended by both. But, on the other hand, it would be a mechanism to show that they differ from the others. 

Recently, the parties seemed to be on a collision course because PODEMOS revealed that it was ready at dawn for its deputies to take office in the Assembly of the Republic. Venâncio Mondlane said that PODEMOS' hasty claim was a betrayal, since the fight for electoral truth had not ceased. But both parties, at different times, agreed to continue with the agreement, although they accused each other of violating it.

The document was supposed to be kept secret, but it was made public.

Mabunda says that "neither of them is violating the agreement. There is no article that says that all decisions must be taken after consultation with the parties. I also don't see where Venâncio Mondlane would have violated the agreement, because what Venâncio Mondlane is saying is not in the agreement. Just like what PODEMOS is doing, I haven't seen that either."