The Mayor of the city of Nampula, Paulo Vahanle, escaped an alleged assassination attempt on Tuesday (22), during the celebrations for the municipality's anniversary.

According to the local newspaper, Ikweli, the attempt to take the mayor's life took place in the Town Hall. The evidence points to a member of the Unit for the Protection of High-Level Individuals (UPAI, a unit of the Police of the Republic of Mozambique) who came to the scene in plain clothes and wielding a firearm.

The individual, whose intentions are still unknown, according to the newspaper, "was intercepted by Renamo generals". He is identified as Paulo Vahanle's chief aide-de-camp (ADC), and there was no information about his summons to the Town Hall.

The newspaper reports that the officer's gun was seized. It is suspected that he was accompanied by three other individuals.

The Center for Democracy and Human Rights (CDD) condemned and repudiated the alleged assassination attempt on Paulo Vahanle.

On October 4, 2017, the former mayor of the same municipality, Mahamudo Amurane, was murdered in front of his private residence.