Joseph Hanlon elections
seminar Tuesday 12 November 13.00 GMT
Firoz Lalji Institute for Africa, London School of Economcis
Tuesday 12 November, 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm. (UK time, GMT)
Location: LSE KSW.G.01 (20 Kingsway)
or online https://lse.zoom.us/j/84338183779
We are excited to invite you to a special Lunch & Learn, featuring Dr Joseph Hanlon, journalist and editor of this newsletter, and Visiting Fellow in International Development at LSE. Dr Hanlon will present on the latest from Mozambique where the recent contested election has caused mass protests.
We kindly request that those planning on attending in person confirm their attendance in advance so we can book catering.
Police kill 40 protesting electoral fraud in Mozambique
Ruling party Frelimo has won all the multi-party elections in Mozambique since 1994, but the 9 October national election was in-your-face fraudulent. The electoral process is supposed to be unbiased, but Frelimo controlled it from beginning to end. More than 1 million ghost voters were registered – more voters than there are voting age adults. Observers saw totally open ballot box stuffing. Results were changed to benefit Frelimo.
But just as the level of fraud was unprecedented, so was the reaction. Young people went into the streets, mobilised on social media by a charismatic young presidential candidate. For three weeks, with 40 dead protesters, there has been an unprecedented general strike in many places. The election is still the rallying cry, but young people are also protesting poverty, lack of a future, and a resource curse. The IMF, World Bank, and donors support Frelimo because it has allowed foreign companies to exploit the resources, creating few jobs and only leaving holes in the ground. A few Frelimo leaders have become wealthy oligarchs.
The anger has been informed in part by a daily newsletter with 500 local correspondents published by the Public Integrity Centre, which has reported the blatant fraud in detail. Dr Hanlon is the only foreign advisor to the newsletter.
Dr Joseph Hanlon is a journalist, editor of Mozambique News Reports and Clippings, and visiting fellow in International Development at LSE. Subscriptions are free to Mozambique News Reports and Clippings https://bit.ly/Moz-sub and to the CIP elections newsletter https://bit.ly/MozBul-sub. His next book on Mozambique will be published next year.
