Dialogue in Mozambique faces distrust

A national dialogue was announced and a “torch of unity” lit, but many Mozambicans are suspicious about the government's attempts to address bitter divisions exposed in the last violence-scarred election.

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President Daniel Chapo announced the dialogue in March after taking charge of the country of 33 million people that was for weeks engulfed in demonstrations against the results of the October vote in which scores of people were killed.

It will be spearheaded by an 18-person commission that will tour the country to hear the concerns that burst into the open at the election, ranging from youth joblessness to alleged state cronyism.

All political parties have seats and three places reserved for civil society are to be filled by July.

But glaringly absent from the process so far has been the charismatic opposition leader, Venancio Mondlane, who fired up the protests by insisting he won the vote and the official results were rigged.

“Excluding Mondlane also means excluding his people,” said analyst Andre Mulungo of the Centre for Democracy and Human Rights.