It was not yet 19:00 local time when two military transport trucks arrived at Acordos de Lusaka Avenue, the scene this morning of several acts of vandalism and looting of two shops, furniture, and telecommunications in the shopping centre of the South African group Shoprite.
After a quick formation, with guns drawn and shovels in hand, the soldiers headed to the avenue and adjacent streets to clean up the marks of dozens of burnt tyres and rubbish bins. They removed stones of all sizes and all traces of destruction, to the surprised looks of the residents.
‘What a great job they’re doing,’ said one resident, as she watched the soldiers work to remove the still smouldering debris from the streets that, hours before, had been filled with chaos and destruction, as well as what was left of the barricades set up by supporters of presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane, who doesn’t recognise the results of the 9 October general elections and who called for these protests.
In the same place, hours earlier, the police had stopped demonstrations by Venâncio Mondlane’s supporters with shots in the air and tear gas, with the latter responding by throwing stones and bottles.
In a job that is expected to go on for hours, given the level of vandalisation of roads in this part of the city, the military then headed towards Joaquim Chissano Avenue, which was impassable due to these clashes for almost the entire day.
On Tuesday, Mozambique’s minister of defence, Cristóvão Chume, acknowledged signs of a ‘firm and credible intention to change’ the constitutional order, warning that if violence escalates, the Armed Forces will be called upon to ‘protect’ the state.
‘If the escalation of violence continues, there is no alternative but to change the positions of the forces on the ground and put the Armed Forces in charge of protecting what are the purposes of the state,’ said the minister at a press conference in Maputo, assuming that the military is only on the ground to support the other security forces and the population, which took place this evening with the restoration of vandalisation on the city’s main avenues.
