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Mozambican political party the National Alliance for a Free and Autonomous Mozambique (Anamola) has expressed surprise at the Supreme Court’s decision to order the unblocking of Venâncio Mondlane’s bank accounts, as he remains accused of crimes related to the post-election protests of 2024.
The position was expressed in Maputo on Friday by the party’s interim secretary-general, James Njiji, a day after the Supreme Court’s decision became public. The court ordered banks to unblock Mondlane’s accounts, ruling that the grounds for maintaining the measure no longer existed.
“What is really strange is how you accuse a Mozambican citizen of inciting terrorism and then release the accounts through which he moves money. Isn’t there a concern that he could continue financing terrorism?” Njiji asked.
He was speaking on the sidelines of the First Annual Conference on Electoral Democracy, organised by the Electoral Platform Decide. Njiji also expressed solidarity with Mondlane, the party’s founder and president, whose bank accounts had been frozen since November 2024.
“We are happy to see our president’s accounts released and, as you can imagine, having your accounts frozen for two years has not been easy,” he said.
The freeze was ordered by the Maputo City Judicial Court in November 2024, one month after the general elections. At the time, the court also requested information on transactions and bank statements relating to Mondlane’s accounts, with particular attention to funds received from abroad or transferred out of the country.
The decision to unblock the accounts comes just over a month before Mondlane’s trial, scheduled to begin on 17 November at the Supreme Court.
The criminal case was brought by the Public Prosecutor’s Office in connection with the post-election protests. Mondlane faces charges including public advocacy of crime, incitement to collective disobedience, public incitement to commit a crime, instigation of terrorism and incitement to terrorism. The potential prison sentence could exceed 20 years.
According to the prosecution’s indictment, the evidence against Mondlane relies largely on his calls for protests, strikes, shutdowns and mobilisation through live broadcasts on social media.
Despite the charges, Njiji said the party believes its president is being tried for crimes he did not commit, while expressing confidence in the justice system.
“We believe the president is being tried for crimes he did not commit, because he did not go to people’s homes to ask or force them to take to the streets,” he said, acknowledging that criminal responsibility is individual.
The interim secretary-general also said Anamola continues to operate normally despite the legal proceedings against its leader. He added that supporters remain free to follow the trial as they see fit.
“We hope justice will prevail, and that is what we want,” he concluded.
In September, the Supreme Court rejected a request by media organisations to broadcast the trial live, citing the need to safeguard the fairness and integrity of the proceedings.
Mondlane, who contested the 9 October 2024 presidential election, has never accepted the official results, which declared Daniel Chapo, candidate of the Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo), the winner. The ensuing dispute triggered around five months of post-election protests that left hundreds dead and were accompanied by incidents of destruction and looting.
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