A group of around 50 Mozambicans living in Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands demonstrated at their country's embassy in Brussels and then went to the headquarters of the European Union Commission to protest against the results of the general elections on October 9..

In addition to demanding electoral justice, this sit-in, organized by the "Indignados" collective of the Mozambican diaspora, also aimed to draw attention to the living conditions of the Mozambican population, in terms of the health and education system, the cost of living, access to energy and the right to expression.

According to Fernando Chironda, an activist who has lived in Belgium for six years and is a founding member of the platform behind this initiative, he told RFIHe said that "in a funny way, this fight for freedom in our country ended up uniting Mozambicans in the diaspora, something that had never happened before".

"They united in a struggle with common goals, which is to fight for justice and for the freedom of the Mozambican people. So the main demonstrations in Europe and the diaspora all took place at the same time, in terms of the date, today, the 7th. So there were demonstrations here in Belgium, in Germany, also in Portugal, France and Italy, in Brazil and Canada," he began.

For the Mozambican activist, the slogan is very simple: "Electoral justice, the right to freedom of expression for Mozambicans, a stop to the killing and violence by the police who are mandated by the ruling party, but above all, it also has to do with the fight for human rights." "Mozambique is considered one of the worst countries in terms of absolute poverty. The Mozambican people are constantly living in a kind of dictatorship, where young people don't have access to quality education, access to quality health, access to employment, access to housing. So all these aspects have to do with the basic rights of a citizen. And those of us who live in the diaspora know what that means, because we left our country precisely because of that," said Fernando Chironda.

The activist said that they had chosen to go to the Mozambican embassy and the European Commission on Thursday to make their point, to show that they are not oblivious to what is happening in their country and, above all, to draw the attention of the authorities.

Mozambique has been the scene of protests for almost three weeks, following the murder in mid-October of two close supporters of Venâncio Mondlane. Days later, the movement intensified following the CNE's announcement of the election results, which gave victory to Frelimo with more than 70% of the votes.

(Photo DR)