Staff Reporter
Officials at the Embassy of Mozambique have dismissed accusations of voter registration irregularities for their country’s forthcoming elections, amidst accusations by detractors that Zanu PF was registering thousands of Zimbabweans to participate in Mozambique’s presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled for October 9, 2024.
In an exclusive interview, embassy officials clarified that Mozambique has a diaspora voting system, and only Mozambican nationals are eligible to register. The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, explained that this diaspora vote is a standard practice for Mozambique in every election, and registration is limited to Mozambican citizens residing abroad.
“We wish to clarify that our registration process is strictly for Mozambique nationals living abroad. Allegations of registering non-Mozambicans are baseless and unfounded,” said the embassy officials.
They further revealed that the registration was targeting Mozambique nationals in various countries.
“We have been conducting the voter registration exercise for Mozambican nationals residing in different African countries, including South Africa, Zimbabwe, eSwatini, Malawi, Zambia, and Tanzania, as well as those in Europe, particularly Germany and Portugal have been registered for the upcoming elections,” said the embassy official
Another embassy official emphasized the routine nature of diaspora voting, saying, “Diaspora voting is not new to Mozambique. We have been conducting registration drives in various countries to enable Mozambican nationals to exercise their democratic right. The accusations of irregularities are simply an attempt to undermine the integrity of our electoral process.”
Addressing the accusations Clive Muza, an analyst remarked, “Detractors are leveraging these allegations to craft a narrative aimed at disputing election results, such claims are very strategic in nature and they serve as a pretext for contesting the legitimacy of the electoral outcome.”
The clarification provided by the officials at the embassy of Mozambique shed light on the nature of the registration process and refutes allegations of irregularities.
