Moz's 'flame of hope'

FORTHRIGHT: OPPOSITION LEADER'S MESSAGE RESONATES WITH YOUTH

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Young people are desperate for change in the poor country.

Mozambique's charismatic opposition leader, Venancio Mondlane, who claims to have won the 9 October general election, has used social media to fire up younger people desperate for change in his impoverished country.

Known simply by his first name, the 50-year-old former MP and media commentator returned home on Thursday to push his claim to the presidency after directing weeks of protests from an unknown location abroad.

"I am the president elected by...the genuine will of the people," Mondlane said in front of journalists at the Maputo airport, raising his hand as if swearing an oath.

"I swear on my honour to respect the constitution and the laws, to use all my physical, psychological, intellectual and even emotional energies for the benefit of this land so that in five or 10 years it may become one of the greatest nations in the world," he said.

It is a message that resonates with young people in the poor but resource-rich country who are seeking change after 50 years of rule by the socialist Frelimo party.