Mozambique president sworn in as post-election protest deaths rise

By Manuel Mucari and Thando Hlophe

Daniel Chapo of Mozambique's long-ruling Frelimo party was sworn in as president on Wednesday at a sparsely attended ceremony, as the death toll from months of protests against his disputed election victory climbed.

A local civil society monitoring group said at least seven more people were killed in clashes with security forces on Wednesday, raising the cumulative death toll since the Oct. 9 vote above 300.

The opposition says Frelimo won the election through vote-rigging and Western observers say it was not free and fair. Frelimo denies accusations of electoral fraud.

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It has ruled Mozambique since the end of the war against Portuguese colonial rule in 1975, clinging on throughout a 15-year civil war that killed a million people before a 1992 truce.

Chapo told a group of about 1,500 supporters from a stage in the capital Maputo that social and political stability would be his government's top priority.

He also promised 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 with a heavy police and army presence, Reuters witnesses said.

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

Opposition leader Venancio Mondlane, who official results say came second to Chapo in the presidential election, returned from self-imposed exile last week and has urged his supporters to continue demonstrating.

The post-election protests amount to 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. They have also disrupted cross-border trade and forced some to flee to neighbouring countries.