The disputed election in October is causing increasing civil unrest in Mozambique.
Bernardino Rafael, the general commander of Mozambique’s police force, reported that a jail riot in the capital city of Maputo killed 33 persons and injured 15.
According to Rafael on Wednesday, 150 of the 1,534 inmates who escaped from the prison during the incident have since been apprehended.
According to accounts in the local media, hundreds of inmates broke out of two penitentiary facilities in Maputo.
Journalist Clemente Carlos of Mozambique notified the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) that two correctional facilities in the Machava neighborhood had experienced jail escapes.
He said that one of the fugitives, who was still in handcuffs, was captured on camera participating in a protest against the country’s contested election results in Southern Africa.
According to Carlos, the escapees most likely exploited the Christmas vacation, when there are less security officers on duty than on normal workdays.
Following the Constitutional Court’s declaration on Monday that Daniel Chapo of the ruling Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo) had won the contested October 9 elections, the prison break coincides with new protests.
Two days of violence on Monday and Tuesday, involving attacks on banks, police stations, and gas stations, resulted in at least 21 verified deaths.
Pascoal Ronda, the interior minister, told reporters that 236 incidents of serious violence had been registered nationwide so far, with 25 people injured and roughly 21 people killed.
Plataforma Decide, an election monitoring group, said the most recent deaths increased the nation’s death toll to 151 since October 21.
Since late October, when the electoral body proclaimed 47-year-old Daniel Chapo the victor with 71 percent of the vote, defeating key opposition leader Venancio Mondlane with 20 percent, Mozambique has been the scene of violent protests.
On Wednesday, Adriano Nuvunga, the director of the Center for Democracy and Human Rights in Mozambique, posted on X: “Maputo Central Prison is one of the high-security jails where more than 2,500 inmates have escaped. The security situation and the legal system in Mozambique are seriously called into question by this startling episode.
Nuvunga continued, “Now, more than ever, it is critical for authorities, civil society, and international partners to collaborate to ensure public safety and address the systemic challenges that led to this situation.”
Regarding the purported prison break, the Mozambican government has not yet released a statement.
