Thousands of supporters of Renamo, the opposition party, returned to the streets of Maputo yesterday to claim victory in the local elections on October 11, in a march through the capital led by youth demanding "opportunities".

Abiba Abudo, 26, in the midst of thousands of people who gathered, from 9am, outside Renamo's city headquarters to march through the capital, calling for the victory of the party's candidate in the municipal elections in Maputo city, Venâncio Mondlane, told Lusa that "the youth, in fact, just want opportunities (...) I myself finished 12th grade years ago, but I don't have the money to go to college". But where am I going to get the money to go to college if I don't work?" the source asked, quoted by Lusa.

Bearing signs with messages such as "give us the keys to the municipality", the Renamo supporters, mostly young people, led by Venâncio Mondlane from the roof of his vehicle, drove through the heart of Maputo to the sound of the party's anthems, as well as "Povo no Poder", the famous song by the late social intervention rapper Azagaia, which is now the "norm" in Maputo marches.

"We want to rejuvenate Mozambican politics," Elisa Adélia, 35, a party sympathizer who has been under the sun for hours, told Lusa, also complaining about the lack of jobs for this age group.

In Mozambique, data from the latest population census (2017) released by the National Institute of Statistics indicate that, out of the 32 million Mozambicans, around 9.4 million are young people, a third of whom have no job, schooling or vocational training.

"As young people, we have potential and strength of spirit, but we need the state to help us," commented Jaime Rui, 31, in the middle of the march.

For at least six hours, escorted by a police vehicle, Venâncio and his supporters drove through the main roads of the Mozambican capital, paralyzing traffic in certain parts of downtown, where the candidate gave a speech demanding that the perpetrators of the alleged fraud in the October 11 elections be held accountable.

"The courts have said that there were people who facilitated the fraud (...) We call on the Attorney General's Office to hold these people accountable," said Venâncio Mondlane, speaking from the roof of his car and drawing applause from the thousands of people watching, including supporters and informal traders in downtown Maputo.

According to the intermediate tabulation notice presented on Monday by the electoral bodies in the Mozambican capital, the Frelimo list in Maputo city, led by Razaque Manhique, received 235,406 votes (58.78%).406 votes (58.78%), that of Renamo, led by Venâncio Mondlane, 134,511 votes (33.59%) and that of the Democratic Movement of Mozambique (MDM), led by Augusto Mbazo, 24,365 votes (6.8%).

Mozambique's sixth local elections were held in 65 municipalities on October 11, including 12 new municipalities, which went to the polls for the first time. According to intermediate district and provincial results released by STAE in recent days for 50 municipalities, Frelimo won in 49 and MDM in Beira.

The "Mais Integridade" consortium, a coalition of Mozambican non-governmental organizations, accused Frelimo, the ruling party, of having manipulated the results of the local elections on the 11th, leading to "a high level of fraud".

In Maputo, some district courts have already annulled the ballot, alleging various irregularities, most notably the falsification of public notices.

Of the 65 municipalities, at least two had already annulled the municipal elections due to alleged irregularities, namely Cuamba, in Niassa province, and Chokwé, in Gaza province.