The Festival consists of musical events in the capital Maputo, with the highlight being an acoustic musical train trip to Marracuene. The train picks up music fans for free along the way, taking them to the Festival's finale, a lively outdoor concert that lasts until dawn.

In Marracuene last year, photo courtesy of D J Clark (www.djclark.com)

The train trip this year was documented by YouTube user Charline Van Deth:

Website MozambiqueTV shared a clip from private television station STV on the platform of Maputo's historic train station before the train departed. The clip features an interview with a smiling producer of the Festival, Lito, with Logaritmo Productions:

Marrabenta is a genre of music closely linked to African urban life and modernity, making the train trip a delightful match. Marrabenta arose in the south in the 1930s and 1940s, the word coming from the verb rebentar (to break) which is a way people describe dancing. One urban theory is that the word originally described cheap guitar strings breaking with the energetic playing of musicians.

The genre was a mix of traditional Mozambican rhythms and new guitar arrangements inspired by that period's global explosion of popular music fuelled by radio. Pioneering artists such as Dilon Djindji, Fany Mpfumo, and Wazimbo (and the Orchestra Marrabenta Star) made an ever-lasting mark on Mozambican music.

Guitar is a key feature of Marrabenta, photo courtesy of D J Clark (www.djclark.com)

Ever since its beginnings in colonial Lourenço Marques (now Maputo), writes nostalgic website Xirico [pt]:

A música é um dos atributos culturais mais marcantes do povo moçambicano. O primeiro acorde provoca o primeiro movimento que ninguém ensinou. Depois não há força para resistir ao chicuembo da marrabenta. O requebro sincopado das ancas, uma mão na nuca outra atrás das costas, movimentos sensuais…

Performers on the mainstage last year, photo courtesy of D J Clark (www.djclark.com)

Photographer DJ Clark captured the essence of the festival last year in a stunning photo album. This video from the Marrabenta Festival in 2010 by YouTube user TheMarrabenta shows how the Festival is living proof of the power of marrabenta to enchant generation after generation:

The Festival is a breath of fresh air in Mozambique and crucial to maintaining roots music, as critics such as Fortunato of the Matapa blog pull no punches in relation to contemporary music

Local music does get its share of airplay here, but the thing, is, most of the current Mozambican (popular) music is nowhere near as interesting as the echos from its past. On Radio Maputo, you can hear a lot of local classics from the 70ies: they sound totally amazing, a diverse and experimental blend of tradition with pop influences. But nowadays about half of the musicians seem busy vocalizing the fact that Mozambican musicians need to find their own style. The other half seems more than happy selling whatever suits the mobile phone operators or the governing party.

In clear contrast to this kind of music were the headliners this year, the South African group the Mahotella Queens, celebrating their thirtieth anniversary. They just reinforced the links between popular South African music and Mozambican music, which have been intermingling since well before the railroads linked Johannesburg with Mozambique's then capital Lourenço Marques. Language groups transcends colonial borders, and the musical languages of neighboring South Africa and southern Mozambique have a great deal in common.

This year, @Verdade newspaper reported that more and more foreigners take time out and travel to Mozambique for this unique musical moment. But the Festival has an economic impact in Marracuene irrespective of foreign visitors, with informal bars and food stalls set up to sell palm wine, grilled chicken and fried fish, where visitors from Maputo infuse cash into the town's economy.

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A week after the broadcast of an opinion piece by the journalist and renowned writer Pedro Rosa Mendes, on public radio Antena 1, the RDP (Portuguese Radio Broadcast) [en] announced the end of the show “Este Tempo” (This Time). The piece in question criticized the “coarse exercise of propaganda and mystification” which was broadcast live from Angola in a public TV (RTP) show with the participation of several politicians, governors and business men, including Minister Miguel Relvas.

A new report published on January 24, points to the reason for the end of the program according to Rosa Mendes, “the administration didn't like the last piece about RTP and Angola”. In the blogosphere and on social networks it did not take long for reactions to the “axing of freedom of expression in Portugal”.

Journalist Helena Ferro de Gouveia, on her blog Domadora de Camaleões, sums up the content of the piece:

Free information. Photo of a stencil in Lisbon by Graffiti Land on Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0)

um retrato em que ninguém fica bem ao espelho, nem a elite portuguesa, nem os engravatados angolanos – incomodaram o “baton da ditadura” e alguns serviçais lusos que vendem princípios a preço de saldo. (…)

A verdade sobre a “oleocracia” angolana, país onde a cornucópia da riqueza é restrita a alguns e mais de metade da população vive na mais abjecta pobreza, é uma fronteira que não se atravessa.

Mozambican blog Ma-schamba describes the episode as a “detailing of the cue-taking by Portuguese power from Angolan capital”. Angola is better known in Portugal as a destination for those who cannot find jobs in face of the economic crisis, than for the political, economical and social ins and outs pointed out by Rosa Mendes. Moreover, in December 2011, the Portuguese Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho recommended the unemployed to migrate to Angola (among other Portuguese speaking destinations).

A week before the news, the politician and scholar José Pacheco Pereira revealed his worries with “the progressive control over the Portuguese media by Angolan economic groups who, wherever they touch and enter, end the possibility of saying what was said before.” Even before the announcement on the radio program was made, on his blog Abrupto, he wondered “what is the ‘Information' of RTP for?”:

o que leva a RTP em aperto financeiro a enviar uma equipa à cidade mais cara do mundo, gastar tempo de satélite, deslocar pessoas e bens para acabar por fazer um pífio exercício de propaganda centrado nos estereótipos sobre a relação entre Portugal e Angola, bem longe de qualquer realidade? O que leva a tão deprimente e caro exercício de banalidade absoluta, a não ser dar tempo de antena a um ministro, por singular coincidência o mesmo que tutela a RTP, acolitado pelos mesmos de sempre (…)?

More questions about the current state of public broadcasting services were also raised by Raquel Freire, another journalist from “Este Tempo”, who stated in her farewell piece (transcribed on Facebook):

Numa democracia o serviço público serve para ser a voz das pessoas. Numa ditadura serve para ser a voz do dono, ou seja do governo. Na nossa situação actual, temos um governo que nos manda a nós portugueses emigrar, e ataca os nossos direitos fundamentais. Por isso, a rádio pública ser a voz do governo, não é sequer ser a voz daqueles senhores que alguns de nós elegeram, porque este governo é a voz da chaceler alemã, é a voz dos banqueiros alemães.

"Censored" journalists from "Este Tempo": António Granado, Gonçalo Cadilhe, Raquel Freire, Rita Matos and Pedro Rosa Mendes. Poster by Art.21º shared on Facebook together with the transcription of the Portuguese Constitution on Freedom of Information and Expression.

The news came out one day before the publication of Reporters Without Borders' ranking [en] on international press freedom, 2011-2012. Portugal is in the 33th place, 7 places higher than in the last report published by the end of 2010.

While analyzing the report, journalist and researcher on Angolan issues, Orlando Castro, said on his blog Alto Hama in an ironic tone “this year Portugal and Angola will climb up a few more places, thanks to - especially but not only - the RTP show made in Luanda and RDP's decision to cut off those who don't want to be the voice of the owner”, and added:

Creio que o relatório não refere mas, quanto a mim, tudo se deve ao contributo decisivo dado pelo ministro Miguel Relvas e, é claro, a Fernando Lima, consultor político do Presidente da República de Portugal, e seu ex-assessor de imprensa, para quem “uma informação não domesticada constitui uma ameaça com a qual nem sempre se sabe lidar” [Nota GV: declarações noticiadas a 4 de Janeiro].

“The truth is a poison”, said Rosa Mendes in his last piece, broadcast on January 25. The journalist closed with harsh critiques of an “a  society asphyxiated by the values of silence, cowardice and fawning” after 40 years of democracy in Portugal:

Podemos sempre pensar que apenas em cenários limite - genocídio, a guerra, extermínio - acontecem escolhas-limite; e que é a violência absoluta ou é a humilhação ou o sofrimento absoluto que impõem a revolta, o inconformismo, a coragem; ou não. Tenho para mim que as escolhas-limite se fazem todos os dias, no nosso quotidiano; e duvido muito que quem vive de espinha dobrada em tempo de paz , em tempo feliz (como é já nos esquecemos o tempo democrático) seja capaz de endireitar a espinha em tempos difíceis.

The Regulatory Authority for the Media (ERC) is already investigating the case, concerning the possible “violation of rights, liberties and warranties  in media activities”.

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The Ministry of Social Development and Combat of Hunger (MDS) had announced that the transfer of R$120 million to the program to build the cisterns would no longer happen. As an alternative, the government would offer plastic cisterns that allegedly do not match the realities of the people and that would no longer be constructed by citizens themselves, but instead “donated” by state and city governments. The agreement with ASA, which has existed for over a decade, was threatened in the end of December.

The mobilization forced the government to reverse its announced suspension. On December 23, representatives of ASA and the Ministry met and the continuation of the agreement without mediation of city and state governments was guaranteed at least until April 2012. On January 3, the ADA and Ministry will meet again.

On social networks, discussion in last days was centered on the reason for substituting the ASA for greater dependence on the decisions of local public officials. On Twitter, theologian and writer Leonardo Boff (@LeonardoBoff) commented [pt], in a series of tweets:

Ivan Cruz, ASA Brazil (used with permission).

A ASA construiu centenas de cisternas e educou o povo a conviver com o semiarido. A Ministra vai introduzir cisternas de plastico, mexicanas. (…)
Abandona-se um projeto popular levado pelo proprio povo. Se triunfar fica claro o viés tecnocrático do Gov.Dilma sem diálogo (…)
Resolver os problemas dos pobres sem envolver os pobres é erro crasso e não funciona. Temos que denunciar e resistir e obrigar a um dialogo.

Beyond the possibility of the turning residents into dependents of a technology unknown to them, the plastic cisterns could become an electoral currency in the hands of local politicians, as writer Frei Betto pointed out on his Twitter account (@Frei_Betto).

Geographer Janete Limelo questioned [pt] the first position of the Federal Government:

A quem interessa trocar cisternas de alvenaria que custam R$2000, 00 por plástico que custam R$5000,00?? ow.ly/873r8 #perguntepradilma

Neto Santos, C.F. Mandacaru de Pedro II (used with permission)

The ASA, composed of 750 civil society organizations, coordinated two projects: Program for a Million Cisterns (P1MC) and Program One Earth and Two Waters (P1+2). With the Federal budget, 371,728 cisterns have already been constructed by the beneficiaries themselves, over 2 million Brazilians. The cistern program is recognized internationally as “a reference in management and social inclusion in the area of access to water and the right to food and nutritional security of families living in the semi-arid region” as the Mandacaru de Pedro II Training Center emphasized.

Turuna Tântalo on the blog Soda Cáustica (Caustic Soda) [pt], reminded that the organization “[bringing together] groups interested in turning around the position of miserable exile imposed on the peoples of the semiarid region”, began after the 3rd Conference of the Parties of the Convention Against Desertification COP3 of the UN, in the city of Recife:

No dia 26 de novembro de 1999, contrariando as expectativas do mundo piedoso com os pobres coitados sem água, gente aliada aos supostos pobres-coitados-sem-água anunciava a festiva e profética Declaração do Semiárido Brasileiro.

The documentary A Different Look, made by ASA Brazil, ” presenting a region that is not defined by cracked earth, thirst and hunger. But, that there is another side, of production, prosperity and solidarity. This is possible when farmers join organizations in an interesting coming together of ideas.”

The discourse that there is not enough water in the northeast of Brazil was important ally of the indústria da seca [literally: the drought industry, referring to elite manipulation of government subsidies], one of the more nefarious relations of power in Brazilian politics, which fed the creation of the myth of the “poor”, “helpless” and “underdeveloped” northeasterner which has permeated the national imagination.

Due to a lack of opportunities, many northeasterners hop on pick-up trucks and migrate to become day laborers in construction or maids in the southeast. The cistern is a symbol of a change in this narrative or as Turuna Tânalo writes in the blog Soda Cáustica [pt] ”a change of paradigm”:

…é possível viver na caatinga, resgatando e melhorando tecnologias adequadas para o calor intenso, assim como vivem os esquimós no gelo seco do Ártico, assim como vivem os indígenas nas alturas de ar rarefeito dos Andes, assim como vivem os cosmopolitas em meio ao barulho e à multidão da Grande Cidade…..

Silenciosamente, mas obstinadamente, abandonamos o delírio televisivo de que aqui chovesse como chove no sudeste: a gente da terra árida foi despertando para o fato de que não é exatamente água que falta…

Developmental myopia

The debate about the partnership between ASA and the Ministry also brought to the fore the issue of the developmental policies of Dilma's government. The Vice President of the Indigenist Missionary Council (CIMI), Roberto Antonio Liebgott, points out [pt] that Brazilian economic growth is based on partnerships between the state and large corporations, without including citizens as actors in social transformation:

O ano em que Dilma Rousseff decidiu romper a parceria com a Articulação no Semiárido Brasileiro (ASA) que previa construir um milhão de cisternas e garantir água aos nordestinos. Ao invés disso, decidiu oferecer cisternas de plástico (PVC), levando lixo ao sertão brasileiro. É a política do “goela abaixo”

Global Voices collaborator Raphael Tsavkko highlighted [pt] the problem of public policies that do not include local residents as agents of transformation:

Nada contra assistencialismo em si, enquanto políticas emergenciais de curto/médio prazo, o problema é trocar um projeto que emancipa, por políticas de apoio ao retorno do coronelismo e que substituem a autonomia da população e sua independência, dando-lhes dignidade.

Written by Thiana Biondo · Translated by Janet Gunter · View original post [pt] · comments (1)
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Julio de Magalhães, from the blog Do Médio-Oriente e afins (From the Middle East and the like) [pt] commented on the departure of the singer and highlights the music of her country:

Foi uma voz de Cabo Verde escutada e aclamada em toda a parte e, de alguma forma, um símbolo nacional. Dotada de um inconfundível instrumento vocal, como aliás grande parte dos cabo-verdianos, apresentou-se nos principais palcos do mundo sempre com extraordinário sucesso.

photo shared by twitpic user @huygui

For Brazilian journalist Mauro Ferreira, of the blog Notas Musicais (Musical Notes) [pt] “a sweet voice of deep feeling has been silenced”. On her music, he says:

Voz que destilava a fina melancolia impregnada nas mornas - espécie de samba-canção da terra da intérprete - que entoava em crioulo, um idioma que misturava português, francês e dialetos africanos. Évora também deu voz às coladeiras, outro ritmo cabo-verdiano, mais dançante e próximo da pegada caribenha.

The blog Palavras Todas Palavras (Words all Words) [pt] commented in retrospective on the success of the album La diva aux pied nus (The Barefoot Diva), recorded in 1988, which alludes to the way she appeared on stage:

O álbum foi aclamado pela crítica, e em 1992 gravou Miss Perfumado, e passou a morar na França. Tornou-se uma estrela internacional aos 47 anos. Em 2004 recebeu um Grammy, de melhor álbum de world music contemporânea. Foi a cantora que recebeu maior reconhecimento internacional na história da música cabo-verdiana.

The Portuguese blog Repórter a Solta (Reporter on the Loose) [pt] emphasized her great energy on stage based on a report from her shows in London:

Cesária não pára. Desde que, aos 48 anos, começou, em França, a sua carreira internacional, passa a maior parte do ano em tournée pelo mundo. Não está cansada? “É preciso aproveitar, agora que há trabalho”, diz-nos ela, como inconsciente de ser uma estrela mundial, como se vivesse nos tempos miseráveis dos bares do Mindelo. “Enquanto puder, não páro”. Na plateia, (…) são raros os caboverdianos, ou mesmo os espectadores de origem africana. São britânicos na sua maioria, famílias, casais, jovens, de meia-idade, classe média-alta…” Eles não percebem nada do que eu canto”, diz-nos Cesária. “Ninguém entende crioulo. Mas não importa. A música diz tudo. Entendem a música”. (…) Como faz ela aquilo? É um truque? Um sortilégio? Ninguém sabe explicar, mas está lá todo o fascínio de Cabo Verde.

Poster in homage to Cesária Évora written in creole distributed all over Lisbon, Portugal

In retrospective, and in a critical tone, anthropologist Miguel Moniz, guest contributor to Southcoasttoday, wrote about the space occupied by the singer on the international scene:

Cesaria Evora left Mindelo, Sao Vicente, to sing the morna on the world's great stages, winning a Grammy and becoming a chevalier in the French Ordre National de la Legion d'Honneur along the way. Although she had been performing on and off since the 1950s, it was not until the release of two albums in the 1990s that Cesaria would emerge to international acclaim in the “world music scene,” a ubiquitous though absurd catch-all category that seems to mean “music made by people from some weird place I've never heard of.”

Still on the likely unfamiliarity of the international audience with Cape Verde, the blog Passaport to wrote:

Not too many people know much about (or have even heard of) the tiny, 10-island West African country of Cape Verde. But even though relatively few actually understood her song lyrics, plenty in Europe, Africa, and the rest of the world certainly knew and loved its most famous native daughter. (…) But the lady has left behind a gorgeous legacy (…) that have taught the world about Cape Verde’s distinctive national music, called morna.

The directions of Cape Verdean music

Cesária and Maria de Barros. Photo shared by Maria de Barros on Facebook

And with Cape Verde in focus, a debate has arisen over who will take her place as musical spokesperson of the country.

The current scenario is quite far from that found by Cesária Évora. Attention was drawn to the fact that the majority of representatives of Cape Verdean music of the new generation are “daughters of the diaspora”:

As candidatas à sucessão de Cesária Évora como “a voz de Cabo Verde” são cabo-verdianas nascidas em outras partes do mundo, na maior parte dos casos em Lisboa. Mayra Andrade, a mais bem colocada, nasceu em Cuba e vive em Paris. Se Cesária Évora, falecida no sábado, era, é, “a voz de Cabo Verde” e o maior emblema internacional do país, o desaparecimento físico da diva dos pés descalços deixa vago, de certa forma, o lugar que a filha do Mindelo até aqui ocupava no panorama musical internacional. As candidatas à sucessão são várias e mais ou menos conhecidas, tendo em comum o facto de, ao contrário de Cesária, não terem nascido em Cabo Verde e serem, antes, filhas da diáspora crioula.

Among the names cited are Mayra Andrade, Lura, Nancy Vieira, Sara Tavares, Carmen Souza, Maria de Barros, Danae and Isa Pereira. Some were born in Cape Verde, and others were not, some spent time in the country and others have not, and with various musical influences, as the case of Carmen Souza, who mixes Cape Verdean traditions with jazz, or Maria de Barros, with influence of Latin music, principally salsa.

There appears to be an effort to renew Cape Verdean music and make connections with other music, but with strong links to the roots of musical tradition of the country. What is notable is that the doors for Cape Verdean music were opened by Cesária Évora and the strength of her work, that in one form or another appears influential in the work of all of those singers cited above, be it musically, be it by inspiration and love for the country and for its language. And it is hoped they will continue on with her legacy in one way or another.

Whatever the future directions of Cape Verdean music internationally, the presence of Cesária Évora was unique and will always leave Sodade. Tom Devriendt, of the blog Africa is a Country, explains the meaning of one of the most beautiful words of the Portuguese language: “Saudade” (”Sodade” in Creole) - also the title of a song that made her famous throughout the world - and he shares the video for the song “Dor di Sodade” (The Pain of Sodade) from the album “Radio Mindelo” (2009) with old photos of the singer:

One of the many meanings of “Sodade” — that most difficult to translate Creole word — is a feeling of loss.

Written by Debora Baldelli · Translated by Janet Gunter · View original post [pt] · comments (2)
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The announcement of the candidacy of Manuel de Araújo for the  by-elections of last December 7 [en] in Quelimane, Mozambique, provoked a range of opinions. After the resignation of the mayors of Cuamba, Pemba and Quelimane nobody expected that the ex-member of Renamo [en], historical opposition party, and well-respected academic would “fight” for a two year term.

A first reaction was offered up by historian and analyst Egídio Guilherme Vaz Raposo:

Manuel de Araújo é de facto um novo penteado na política Moçambicana. Activista nato, político e académico com créditos firmados, surpreendeu-me e acredito a outros também, ao ter anunciado a sua candidatura pelo MDM [Movimento Democrático de Moçambique, partido formado em 2009, a partir de um ramo da Renamo]. A novidade em mim não é necessariamente da sua candidatura e sim do partido com o qual alinha.

A minha opinião sobre o MDM é publicamente conhecida. Pela forma como conheço o Manuel, dificilmente pensei que pudesse um dia aliar-se ao MDM seja para que missão fosse. Isso, prova mais uma vez que (1) em política vale tudo; (2) nós conhecemos muito pouco os nossos amigos e (3) motivos conjunturais devem ter “empurrado” Manuel Araujo a candidatar-se ao município, avaliadas as condições e possibilidades para a vitória…

"Welcome to the market of MDM" - In Akima Market (Quelimane). Photo by Dercio Taveira on Facebook

Egídio claims in his text that an independent candidacy would bring together more support, but let it be known that de Araújo's allying himself with MDM was not completely disinterested:

Porém, a sua decisão não é tão inocente quanto parece, do meu ponto de vista. É que concorrer como independente implica muitos recursos financeiros, humanos, etc, coisas que, a avaliar pela “urgência”, seriam difíceis de mobilizar em tão pouco tempo. Pelos meus cálculos, ele precisaria mais ou menos de US$ 3000 000, 00 (três milhões de dólares) para organizar uma campanha de 15 dias; e um movimento cívico suficientemente vibrante que num espaço muito reduzido de tempo, nascer e consolidar-se muito antes da data. Assim, concorrer pelo MDM conferiu a ele o acesso à toda infraestrutura já montada para o efeito…

After the debate generated on Facebook , that had more than 111 comments, the issue ended up on blogs.

On the blog Moçambique para todos (Mozambique for all) the debate was lively. José Carlos Cruz wrote in the comments section:

Ninguém mais vai entrar nestas eleições intercalares além de Frelimo e MDM. Porquê?

Porque já ninguém acredita na Comissão Nacional de Eleições e respectivas Comissões Provinciais e Distritais de Eleições. Ninguém acredita no STAE, Serviço Técnico da Administração Eleitoral.

Estes são órgãos especializados para realizarem as eleições, mas completamente viciados para sempre dar a vitória à Frelimo ou a quem a Frelimo quiser que vença…

The electoral process in Quelimane had as a dominant theme the imbalance of strength between the two political structures that supported Manuel de Araújo and Abubacar Bico, the candidate of Frelimo.

Campanha eleitoral em Quelimane. Foto de Rui Lamarques (cortesia do Jornal @Verdade)

Sociologist Carlos Serra concluded that Quelimane, as Araújo had predicted, had become the political capital of the country:

A velha cidade de Quelimane parece ter-se tornado na placa giratória das eleições locais, mesmo ao nível da internet. Por ela têm passado figuras séniores da Frelimo, mas também do Estado, numa frente estratégica enorme para fazer face a Manuel de Araújo do MDM, com a sua corte de jovens a pé e em táxis-bicicletas. É uma autêntica luta entre duas concepções de mobilização: a do desfile motorizado/comício e a da porta-a-porta pedestre e bicicleteira…

Never was an electoral campaign so followed on the internet than that of Quelimane. The advisers of Lourenço Abubacar [candidate of Frelimo, the party in power] created a profile on Facebook to try and head off the popularity of Manuel de Araújo who had opinion formers on social networks like Edgar Barroso, Palmeirim Chongo as supporters.

The former, as Global Voices reported, wrote a letter to the people of Quelimane and the latter was a true reporter in the service of change and citizenship.

Palmeirim went around to voting tables as they were counting votes. He received threats, but never gave up. It was via his Facebook profile that many outside of Quelimane stayed informed:

Hoje por duas vezes fui “aconselhado” pela policia a estar longe dos postos de votacao, primeiro no benfica e depois namuinho, tenho 2 criancas para cuidar…vou acatar o conselho…estou a trabalhar com fontes alternativas

At the end of the process, Palmeirim announced the victory of Araújo and reported on the party. Edgar Barroso also revealed his contentment and wrote on Facebook:

Bom dia! Viram as imagens passando na TVM, mostrando o povo de Quelimane a proclamar e a festejar efusivamente a sua vitória nas eleiçoes intercalares de ontem?

É só o início. Deus que nos dê inteligência, saúde e determinação para PROSSEGUIR COM A LUTA DE LIBERTAÇÃO DE MOÇAMBIQUE! Sem armas nem pedras ou paus, apenas votando e protegendo o voto. Chega de dormir.

Written by Jornal @Verdade · Translated by Janet Gunter · View original post [pt] · comments (2)
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Mozambique is a country with a few superbloggers and little else to report in terms of consistent expression on the open internet. With dramatic growth of Facebook (via mobile), one brave personality has risen to the fore in this walled, blue and white world.

Edgar Barroso is a 28 year old civil servant in life who has over 1.800 friends on Facebook as the “Apóstolo da Desgraça” (literally meaning the Apostle of Disgrace, a tongue-in-cheek name for those who never tire of denouncing the state of things and a reference to contemporary Mozambican literature). He has become one of the most influential online personalities in Mozambique, using the platform as a kind of blog.

Profile of Apóstolo da Desgraça on Facebook

The Apóstolo has friends in every province of the country - where there are mobiles accessing Facebook, it is safe to assume his updates are read. His posts regularly get over 40 comments, sometimes over 150. He has left his profile open so that it remains a fairly public forum.

The “Apostle” has become a sparring partner and friend of journalists - mostly for his comical and critical running commentary on politics and the ruling elite.

The Apostle has raised the hackles of the ruling party Frelimo (in power since independence in 1975), especially during the recent by-elections in three northern cities. He helped amplify the voices of citizens who commented on the campaign, by sharing and reposting their photos and on-the-ground comments.

Three days prior to the December 7 polls, when the crucial city of Quelimane was under serious dispute by the opposition - see our coverage [en]) Apóstolo shared a letter/post on Facebook which he entitled “CARTA ABERTA AOS MEUS IRMÃOS DE QUELIMANE (por favor, imprimam e espalhem este texto ao maior número possível de eleitores)” or “Open letter to my brothers of Quelimane (please, print and spread this text to the maximum number of voters)”

In the letter he wrote:

É impossível olhar para a cidade e fingir que está tudo bem. Não é o secretário do partido, o ministro tal ou o deputado fulano, que nunca residiram nesta cidade, que saberão mais do que nós mesmos o que é melhor para a nossa terra. Estranhemos a razão de hoje eles estarem todos em Quelimane e de terem largado as suas extra-terrestres mordomias, protocolos e regalias, apenas para pisarem o mercado sujo e mal cheiroso onde vendemos e passamos grande parte da nossa vida, implorando-nos o voto e nos prometendo um futuro paradisíaco que nunca nos foram capazes de proporcionar nestes anos todos que estiveram à frente do município. Onde estavam eles até há um mês atrás?

He posted a number of videos by protest hip hop artist Azagaia in the lead-up to the election, urging his friends to go out and vote, including “Combatentes de Fortuna” (Soldiers of Fortune) and “Povo no Poder” (People in Power).

Self portrait of the "Apostle" courtesy of Edgar Barroso

The Apostle has been bold in his confrontation with ruling party spokespeople online, often citing them by name. In a country where such political expression is limited only the pages of small independent newspapers, this behavior is quite frontal and has exposed him personally.

The death threat

In the days following the loss of the ruling party in the Quelimane mayoral election, Barroso received an extended threat via SMS on his personal mobile. Posting the number that sent the message, he quoted it in its entirety for his readers to comment on.

“EDGAR BARROSO, ED MALUCO OU APOSTOLO DA DESGRACA…. Esperamos que no ano que se aproxima , CONTROLES tudo o que vais escrever… Cuida da tua vida, da tua familia, teu empreguinho, trata de construir uma familia e NAO TE ENGANES COM AS AMIZADES porque gracas a elas sabemos teus passos todos. […]

Within hours, there were almost 200 comments on this threat, the vast majority very supportive. One ruling party troll attacked him and his friends did not hesitate to defend him.

The Apostle responded defiantly to the threat, saying that he would be even more outspoken, that he was not scared to be killed or lose his job, and that he knew who was responsible for the threat. He wrote

Você (ou vocês) meteram-se com o gajo errado. Eu sou o Edgar, não sou nenhum parvo. Da mesma forma que coloquei a OJM ou o CNJ em coma é do mesmo modo que colocarei, eu e os demais servos do povo que comungam dos mesmos princípios e valores comigo, o vosso sistema de mentiras, trafulhices, podridão, hipocrisia, crime e derivados em MORTE NATURAL (OU INDUZIDA).

Burro(s).

After the threat, he reports he was interviewed for the first time Mozambican TV, proof of that the Apostle is not planning on going away quietly any time soon.

Written by Janet Gunter · comments (1)
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De Araújo's party MDM, or Democratic Movement of Mozambique, a spin-off from historic opposition party RENAMO, was running in all three cities with by-elections: Cuamba, Pemba and Quelimane. (RENAMO refused to stand in these elections.) Frelimo, the party governing the country since independence and dominating its politics, maintained power in Cuamba and Pemba.

But all eyes were on Quelimane, the largest of the three cities, with the most charismatic opposition candidate. Quelimane is a city of 200,000 people, the seaport capital of central Zambezia province, known for its agricultural potential and increasingly strategic location, with coal companies looking to transport coal by river to sea.

Image courtesy of Twitter user @LamarquesRui

An innovative campaign

Araújo's party MDM has a small representation in parliament, but the party started with the mayoral victory of founder Daviz Simango in the city of Beira. MDM was born out of municipal politics - a fact that drew even more attention to the contest in Quelimane.

Araújo campaigned in ways unheard of in recent times in Mozambique. He has been blogging for over four years, and he also used Facebook effectively to gather support from professionals and young people online. His “Quelimane for all” page had over 2,700 fans, and was reporting events during the vote in realtime to supporters, including electoral violations.

During his campaign he created a bicycle rally with bicycle taxis and a mass march. While he was criticized by some for always appearing in a blue shirt, some argued he was simply “branding” himself given that his time on state (and even private) TV would be limited and that his party and its symbols are relatively new to voters.

Photo courtesy of @ Verdade newspaper

The day of the election and immediate reactions

Independent sources confirmed that the election day was marked by police intimidation and the arrest of one of MDM's youth leader in Quelimane, as well as an incident later in the day in which two MDM supporters were allegedly beaten up.

But a couple of hours after polls closed, as the polling stations made their public first count of the votes, crowds gathered outside to keep the pressure on electoral officials. The atmosphere was tense initially, with heavily armed riot police ringing the stations. But people would not be deterred, as photos tweeted by @ Verdade newspaper journalists confirmed in realtime.

One twitter user (@Helmucas) either showed real political ignorance or was simply joking with this tweet

QUELIMANE EM FESTA COMO SE FOSSE VIDADA DE ANO… Que se passa?

A couple of hours after the polls closed, and counts were finishing up, Araújo's campaign announced what seemed like victory on its Facebook wall:

Esta resolvido: Da nossa contagem paralela, dos mais de 140 mesas de votacao, estao apurados 110. manuel de araujo venceu em 106 delas. lourenco apenas nao conseguiu vencer em 4 mesas! Quelimane ja estya em festa! a cidadre grita ARAAUJOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Frelimo spokesman Edson Macuacua announced shortly after on his wall that he recognized preliminary results announced by the media indicated a win by Manuel de Araújo.

Commenter Gil de Amaral Mahara wrote

Nao ha fraude nem estrategia politica que contrarie a vontade colectiva de mudancas…afinal eh possivel, com um papel e caneta mudar-se o curso do rio dos bons sinais. A democracia agradece!!!!! Viva a Vitoria!!!

Many commenters used the word “liberation” to describe what had happened in their city. Many expressed their feeling that the victory was hard-won. Getúlio Domingos wrote

nos fizemos a nossa parte, nem a presenxa dos tubaroes k se fizeram presentes na nossa cidade, conseguiu influenciar a nossa mente e desta a freli nunca ira se eskecer, MANUEL DE ARAUJO, eu mais do k tu, to feliz….

MDM follower Rafael dos Santos Monteiro posted directly on the Quelimane for All wall

Antes de ir dormir kero congratular ao Manuel de Araujo pela victoria e dizer levem em frente Quelimane que a joventude esta contigo e dizer que essa victoria nao é só sua mas tambem de todo povo morador de Quelimane em especial os jovens.

Twitter users also recognized the importance of the moment. Hiphop label Cotonete Records (Q-tip Records) tweeted

QUELIMANE | MANUEL DE ARAUJO | MDM - Cesar toma o que é teu!!

Ivan Jose Cossa tweeted

#MDM arranca #Quelimane da #FRELIMO. Damn.

Mwaa Manguni tweeted on the morning after the vote

Is a new era of Democracy upon us? #Mozambique #fb

Frelimo candidate Lourenço Abubacar formally conceded defeat on state radio and his campaign's Facebook page was taken down today, the day after the vote. Later in the afternoon the state electoral commission announced the result in record time, confirming Araújo's win.

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