This Thursday, the Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo) accused the police of carrying out hundreds of arbitrary arrests and firing tear gas at party members in the north and center of the country.

At a press conference this Thursday in Maputo, the Renamo spokesman, quoted by DW, said that the episodes occurred on Wednesday, when a police unit allegedly invaded the party's premises in the city of Nampula, with the aim of rescuing a member of the corporation who was identified by Renamo, in plain clothes, during one of the party's marches in that municipality.

"Once he had been neutralized and without clarifying the reasons for his infiltration, other agents invaded the premises of the provincial political delegation with tear gas and shots at Renamo members, in an affront to the principle of proportionality and the basic rules of a police force that claims to be republican and non-partisan," said José Manteigas, accusing the authorities of having arrested "more than two hundred party supporters".

According to the main opposition party in Mozambique, the alleged arbitrary arrests of Renamo members were also recorded in the municipality of Maganja da Costa, in Zambezia province, central Mozambique.

"PRM agents have once again demonstrated their cruel and despotic nature by throwing tear gas at defenseless citizens who were marching peacefully in that city, with the aim of preventing the exercise of the right to demonstrate," added José Manteigas, who blamed the government and the President of the Republic, Filipe Nyusi, for the alleged crimes committed by the police.

"There are orders to harass the citizens of the Center and North and this will have its price. Frelimo [the ruling party] will pay for this (...) We call on all living forces to fight the attempts to enslave the Mozambican people (...) Renamo wants the electoral truth to be restored," concluded José Manteigas.

The local elections continue to be the target of harsh criticism from different opposition parties and civil society, who denounce "fraud" in the ballot, especially the falsification of public notices, with some district court decisions recognizing irregularities in the process.