The courts in the districts of Gurué and Marromeu admitted that there was evidence of criminal activity during the repeat of the local elections held on December 10 - but nevertheless rejected the appeals filed by the opposition parties against the election results.

According to the latest edition of the election bulletin issued by the Center for Public Integrity (CIP), the main opposition party, Renamo, did not present sufficient evidence to support its claim that the electoral roll had been corrupted.

Quoted by AIM, the court added that "there is no appeal in the case of the intermediate count". However, this count was clearly illegal. The minutes of the district, or intermediate, count state that it took place between 05:00 and 05:20 on the morning of December 11.

The main opposition party in Gurué, New Democracy (ND), claimed that the political parties were only invited to the count at 8 a.m. and that at that point they were simply handed the overall results slip, without any indication of the results from each polling station.

According to electoral law 14/2018, article 110, the results are centralized by the polling stations, and political party delegates can be present. "In addition, during the count, party election delegates can make complaints and protests, which must be considered at that meeting by the District Election Commission. This decision can be appealed to the courts," she added.

In this sense, since it was not informed of the count, which took place before dawn, ND was illegally prevented from lodging protests against fraudulent activities.

However, instead of taking any action against these flagrant illegalities, the Gurué district court merely referred the case to the Public Prosecutor's Office. Copies of the opposition's appeals and their supporting documents will therefore be sent to the Public Prosecutor's Office.

During the counting of votes at the Gurué polling stations on the night of December 10, the local police commander ordered the arrest of the deputy head of STAE's Electoral Organization and Operations Department, Agostinho Morgado, appointed by Renamo.

Agostinho Morgado is now taking legal action against the commander, accusing him of having arrested him without an arrest warrant and without any explanation.

The commander ordered another police station to take Morgado's belongings, such as his ID card, reflective vest with the CNE/STAE stamp, STAE notepad, pen, cell phone, charger and wallet. He was then held in a police cell until the end of the polling station count.

As for Marromeu, the court claimed that all the minutes and notices were duly signed by the members of the polling station. There was therefore no basis for Renamo's request to annul the results of 18 polling stations.

However, this was not the opinion of observers. The "More Integrity" consortium of observers issued a statement saying that the fraud in Marromeu was so serious that it was impossible to know who won.

As in Gurué, the court threw the ball into the prosecutor's court in Marromeu.

However, no result from Gurué or Marromeu can be announced until it has been validated by the Constitutional Council, the country's highest body in matters of constitutional and electoral law.