Mozambican electoral officials on Tuesday blamed heavy rain, muddy roads and spoilt ballot papers for the delay in counting the vote from last week’s presidential and parliamentary elections.
The main opposition Renamo leader Afonso Dhlakama has accused the National Electoral Commission of trying to fix the vote in favour of outgoing President Joaquim Chissano’s ruling Frelimo party.
Antonio Carrasco, director general of the commission’s executive arm, denied the accusation on Tuesday, saying results from the December 1 and 2 vote are just beginning to trickle into its headquarters from Mozambique’s 10 provinces.
The first results, from just one province, will be fed into its computers on Tuesday, he told reporters.
Heavy rains and mountainous terrain in the western province of Tete are complicating the transfer of results sheets and ballots to the capital, Maputo, commission spokesperson Filipe Manjate said.
A helicopter has been deployed to the province, but is having difficulty landing, he said. Tractors are also being used in one area.
In the northern province of Nampula and central provinces of Sofala and Zambezia, officials only began processing results on Monday after a slow count.
Electoral officials are also reviewing spoilt ballots, including trying to decide whether to count ones that were signed rather than marked with a cross or finger print, Manjate said. Votes are supposed to be anonymous.
Dhlakama, who led a 16-year rebellion against the then-Marxist Frelimo government, accused the commission of deliberately misplacing voters’ rolls in Renamo’s strongholds in Sofala, Nampula and Niassa.
He also claimed some people went home without voting when polling stations failed to open on time.
Manjate denied electoral officials are trying to influence the vote.
”It is not enough to complain,” he said in response to Dhlakama’s accusations. ”He has to give facts, and we are going to analyse them and say something.”
Chissano is stepping down after 18 years as president. His hand-picked successor, Frelimo’s Armando Guebuza, had a commanding lead in preliminary results reported on state radio. The electoral commission declined to release any figures.
Dhlakama, who is making his third bid for president since the war ended in 1992, claims the last election was stolen from him. He has warned he won’t accept another defeat if he feels the vote wasn’t free and fair.
Three other candidates are also running for president, and 17 parties have fielded parliamentary candidates.
Chissano was in neighbouring South Africa on Tuesday on a tour to say farewell to regional heads of state. He said he plans to use his retirement to set up a foundation to promote peace in Africa.
Despite more than a decade of peace and economic growth, Mozambique remains one of the world’s poorest countries. — Sapa-AP