Gunshots ring out in the streets leading to Independence Square in the capital Maputo as protesters confront the police.
Their voices are coarse with rage as they scream in the masked faces of officers who disperse them with rabid-looking dogs, tear gas and live rounds.
They scatter for a moment, but their anger is hard to quell.
They are making their rejection of the election and the state known, as Daniel Chapo is sworn in as Mozambique’s president in the iconic square down the road.
Behind the pageantry of the inauguration, there is anger on the streets
“I need change! Change the president!” a man yells right down the lens of our camera.
“Put another president! Because FRELIMO [the ruling party] is not ok!”
Supporters of opposition politician Venancio Mondlane protest in Maputo. Pic: Reuters
Officers deploy public order police dogs to deter protests
Mr Chapo’s party FRELIMO (Frente de Libertaco de Moçambique) has held power in Mozambique since winning the fight for independence after three centuries of Portuguese colonial rule.
Its liberation-era generals turned ministers have gone from being hailed to hated, as government corruption runs rampant.
Jordan claims supporters of the opposition politician Venancio Mondlane are being murdered
“I am mad!” 24-year-old Jordan screams. He says he has travelled 12km (7.4 miles) to central Maputo to demonstrate.
“I’m no longer proud to be Mozambican because I see my brothers are being murdered in this country.”
In Mr Chapo’s place, these protesters want Venancio Mondlane – the man they see as the rightful winner of the election.
Mondlane himself has mobilised thousands across the country to reject the election results in protests where at least 300 people have been killed by police.
Sky News witnessed this protester being repeatedly being kicked by police
“I just support justice and everyone believes that Venancio Mondlane was elected,” says architect Eramigio Chilaule.
“It is the fact that we had elections and we need to respect the popular vote.”
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Local and independent observers noted serious irregularities in the election.
On Tuesday, the Pan African Lawyers Union submitted a case to the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights prosecuting the Mozambican officials and institutions they say are responsible for rigging the election.
As dignitaries gather at Independence Square to mark Daniel Chapo’s swearing in, Eramigio tells me the ceremony is farcical.
Architect Eramigio Chilaule called the inauguration of Daniel Chapo ‘farcical’
“It looks more like a military event with so much military police, helicopters, tanks, dogs and all kinds of weaponry. God, it is such a strange environment to be sworn in. It should be a celebratory event – but it just seems like a military dictatorship.”
Mozambique now has a new president inaugurated under the statue of founding father Samora Machel.
But the capital feels torn in two – the power and privilege built over five decades of single-party rule and the masses of Mozambicans now railing against it.
