Interior Minister Pascoal Ronda went to parliament this week to say that during the 130 demonstrations against electoral fraud in Nampula, Zambézia, Niassa, Sofala, Tete, and Maputo City, there was only “one death in Cabo Delgado”, referring to the young Renamo sympathizer murdered by the police on 12 October in Chiure. The minister’s statistics hide around six murders in Nampula City and Nacala-Porto.
In Nampula city there are four dead. CIP Eleições located relatives of two of them, who confirmed the events. Sabonete Saíde, 27, was killed by a police bullet in his home. Sabonete was a married father of two, aged two and three. His wife is currently two months pregnant, confirmed Atumane Saíde, the murdered man’s brother. The photo below is the formal death certificate.
The other victim of police bullets is a 14-year-old child called Atipo Juma, son of Juma Macussete Abdala. The child was shot while in the street selling maheu, a non-alcoholic drink made from maize flour. After being shot, Atipo Juma was taken to Nampula Central Hospital, where he died. Juma Abdala, the boy’s father, went to the police station to object, but was told only that he had to just go and bury his son.
Both Juma Abdala and Sabonete Saíde’s family have so far received no visits or support from the state, they told CIP Eleições.
In the city of Nacala-Porto, there are also two young people confirmed murdered by the police. The first is Issa Félix, a young trader from the Juma market, the largest in Nacala. Félix was shot dead at around 10pm on 26 October while trying to cross the road with his friend, Issufo Momade Manuel.
“At dusk we went for a walk together, and as soon as we arrived at Ontupaia market, my friend wanted to cross the road, when he was shot dead,” said Manuel. Félix’s body remained on the road for some time without being removed, because others were afraid of being shot.
The following day, the police shot dead a 17-year-old teenager by the name of Braimo Arlindo, a plastic bag seller in Nacala. Braimo and his father were hiding in a house after the police had fired tear gas. The police chased them and found them in their hiding place. They shot the teenager dead in cold blood and seriously injured his father, who survived. The photo shows the hiding place where they were shot.
All these deaths are not part of the minister’s statistics, and therefore the state’s, because they were victims of the state itself.