The ruling Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (FRELIMO) has maintained unbroken incumbency before and since the first multiparty elections in 1994, allowing it to establish significant control over state institutions. The opposition has disputed the results of recent elections, with severe postelection violence erupting in 2024. Hundreds of thousands of people have been internally displaced due to an ongoing Islamist insurgency in Cabo Delgado, but some of them are returning as a result of increasing security. Mozambique also struggles with corruption, and journalists who report on it and other sensitive issues risk violent attacks.

• General elections held in October were characterized by credible fraud allegations and postelection violence lasting for weeks. Opposition demonstrations erupted into rioting, and the police response featured arbitrary arrests, lethal violence against demonstrators, and abuses against journalists and civil society members that drew condemnation from rights groups. The civil society monitoring group Plataforma Decide reported in late December that 252 people had been killed since unrest erupted in October.
• In December, the Constitutional Court validated election results showing that Daniel Chapo of FRELIMO won the presidential election with 65 percent of the vote, defeating opposition candidate Venâncio Mondlane, who was backed by the relatively new Optimist Party for the Development of Mozambique (PODEMOS), now the country’s main opposition party. Official results also showed FRELIMO increasing its parliamentary majority. Violent clashes between police and protesters again erupted following the court’s decision.
• Two prominent opposition figures—Elvino Dias, a lawyer and advisor to Mondlane, and PODEMOS spokesperson Paulo Guambe—were assassinated days after the general elections. They were gunned down in their vehicle as PODEMOS was preparing to formally challenge the presidential election results.
• Digital rights groups reported internet shutdowns in Mozambique during the postelection unrest, noting that the shutdowns hampered business activity, online school, information-sharing about the elections, peaceful assembly, and ordinary everyday communication. The country’s communications regulatory body did not offer any legal justification for the shutdowns.
• In August, former Finance Minister Manuel Chang was convicted by a US court of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. The so-called Tuna Bond scandal left Mozambique some $2 billion in debt, and was described by some media as among the worst corruption cases on record in Africa.
• In March, the parliament ratified an extradition treaty with Rwanda despite concerns that Kigali could use it to persecute Rwandan refugees and asylum seekers in Mozambique.

This report has been abridged for Mozambique due to ongoing budget constraints. Freedom in the World is entirely funded by nongovernmental sources such as private foundations, corporations, and individuals like you. Please consider making a donation to support future editions of this vital resource.

For additional background information, see last year’s full report.