Renamo won 59% of the votes in the Matola municipality against 34% for Frelimo, according to a parallel count carried out by the civil society observer consortium Mais Integridade.

"This bulletin had access to copies of Renamo's notices from 791 of the 895 (88%) polling stations in Matola, which show an overwhelming victory. The turnout was 60%, a high figure for municipal elections," reads the portal of the "Mais Integridade" consortium.

The document released this Saturday by the consortium explains that "Renamo's victory comes despite significant fraud on the part of Frelimo polling station staff, who took at least 7,000 votes away from Renamo". He adds, "A common fraud committed by polling station staff is to remove votes from opposition parties and make them null and void. This is done in two ways.

"The counting of ballot papers takes place in polling stations, often in the dark. The ballot papers are stacked on the floor and, during the count, someone puts an extra mark on the ballot papers for Renamo, making them invalid," the note stresses.

In detail, the platform states that the results for all parties, in ballot paper order, for these 791 polling stations are: MDM 18,570 (5.7% of the valid votes), Renamo 190,159 (58.9%), and Frelimo 110,337 (34.2%). Two small parties, two citizens' lists and a coalition together obtained only 1% of the votes: ANAJD (citizens' list Associação Nacional de Assistência a Jovens Deliquentes) 788 (0.2%), E-POVO (Coligação Esperança do Povo) 392 (0.1%), ND (Nova Democracia) 1,452 (0. 4%), ASTIMO (citizens' list Associação dos Trabalhadores Informais de Moçambique) 240 (0.1%), and RD (Revolução Democrática) 519 (0.2%).

In the city of Maputo, the victory also gives Renamo the edge

Renamo, according to "Mais Integridade", beat Frelimo in Maputo city by more than 65,000 votes, with a turnout of 57%.

"This Bulletin and Mais Integridade's civil society observers have had access to copies of Renamo's notices from 833 of the 889 (94%) polling stations in Maputo city, which confirm the great victory," explains the platform, stressing that the results of the 833 polling stations for the main parties are: "MDM 23,760 (7%), Renamo 198,207 (55%), and Frelimo 132,850 (37%)".