Chapo sworn in following Mozambique’s disputed presidential election 

Daniel Chapo of Mozambique’s long-ruling Frelimo party has been sworn in as president of the country.

Taking the oath in front of a group of approximately 1,500 supporters on Wednesday, Chapo promised to protect democracy and human rights. Meanwhile, an NGO estimated that more than 300 people have been killed during protests claiming election fraud.

Speaking at a sparsely attended ceremony, Chapo, largely unknown before the election last October, promised “to devote” all his “energies to defending, promoting and consolidating national unity, human rights, democracy and the wellbeing of the Mozambican people”.

The 48-year-old also pledged to shrink the size of the government by reducing the number of ministries, tackle youth unemployment and prioritise health and education.

The city centre was largely deserted but security forces blocked roads throughout Maputo and around Independence Square, where the swearing-in was held.

Cyril Ramaphosa, president of neighbouring South Africa, was one of the few heads of state attending the inauguration.

Opposition leader Venancio Mondlane came second in the vote according to official results, but maintains that he should have won.

The 50-year-old, who is popular with the youth, maintains the October 9 polls were rigged in favour of Frelimo, which has governed Mozambique since independence from Portugal in 1975.

International observers have said the election was marred by irregularities, while the EU mission condemned what it called the “unjustified alteration of election results”.

Months of protest have followed, to which the government has responded with a crackdown.

Local civil society group Plataforma Decide asserted that more than 300 people have been killed in clashes with security forces since the October 9 vote.

Mondlane returned from self-imposed exile last week and urged his supporters to continue demonstrating against the results, threatening to “paralyse” the new government with daily demonstrations.

“We’ll protest every single day. If it means paralysing the country for the entire term, we will paralyse it for the entire term,” he declared.

The post-election protests are the largest against Frelimo in Mozambique’s history and have affected foreign businesses operating in the resource-rich Southern African country of 35 million people.

Despite those riches, most of the country’s population remains poverty-stricken, and Frelimo’s opponents blame the party for endemic corruption and years of economic decline, unemployment, and an armed conflict in the north.