Report on Citizenship Law: Mozambique
All individuals of duly confirmed Mozambican citizenship,62 residing in the country or
abroad, and who would reach 18 years of age by the polling day, were subject to electoral
registration, per Article 39 of Law no. 4/93. Article 58 (1) prescribed that citizens entitled to
vote were to be registered with their full name, parentage, date and place of birth, and
complete address of their ordinary place of residence. The registration should also record the
number and issuance agency of the identity card or passport when presented by the citizen or
when its number could be determined, even if its validity had expired [Article 58 (2)]. If the
citizen entitled to vote did not possess an identity card or a passport, his/her identity was to be
established by one of the following means: (a) any other document containing a recent
photograph, signature or fingerprint, normally used for identification purposes, e.g. driver’s
licence, residence card, work card, military census card, military identity card or
demobilisation document; (b) recognition of the citizen’s identity by the registration brigade;
(c) testimonial evidence given by two citizens entitled to vote, registered at the same
registration centre, or by religious, traditional or other bodies; (d) individual civil registration
document, birth certificate or other adequate legal document [Article 58 (3)]. Electoral
registration outside the country was to be based on one of the following documents: a
Mozambican passport or identity card; or a current identification document of resident alien
issued by the country of residence (Article 59). At the moment of registration, the citizens
received a voter’s card containing a photograph, the registration number, the registration
centre and its geographical area, the name of the elector, date and place of birth, signature or
fingerprint, and, whenever possible, the number and issuing agency of the identity card or
passport [Article 61 (1)]. The registration process had some initial hiccups,63 but in the end a
total of 6,396,061 voters were registered, representing 81% of an estimated eligible
population of 7,894,850.64
With the holding of the presidential and legislative elections on 27 to 29 October
1994, the Mozambican peace process was said to be completed.65 These were the first multiparty elections since independence, with 14 parties and coalitions running in the legislative
election and 12 candidates in the presidential election. In spite of the fact that RENAMO
announced its withdrawal from the poll on the eve of the elections, raising fears that the
electoral results would not be accepted, the elections were conducted in a peaceful and
orderly manner, had a very high voter turnout (87.9%), and were deemed by international
observers (e.g. UN, OAU, EU) to have been free and fair. The elections returned the same
government and president to office. FRELIMO won the presidency and a 44.3% majority in
the National Assembly, with 129 seats against the 109 seats of RENAMO, which eventually
agreed to participate in the elections, and the 12 seats of the Democratic Union – União
62
Article 56 (2) prescribed that, when doubts existed about an individual’s Mozambican citizenship, he or she
had to present, within a period of 15 days, the necessary confirmation, on which the acceptance of the
registration was dependent.
63
There were technical errors such as the improper filling in of registration forms, registration books and voter
cards, which were attributed to the lack of clear instructions and inadequate training of registration personnel.
Furthermore, RENAMO and other political parties raised allegations of fraud in the electoral process,
complaining inter alia that foreigners were being registered as voters. According to the UN Secretary-General,
the technical problems were duly addressed and did not hinder the election process, while most complaints were
not substantiated. See Further Report of the Secretary-General on the United Nations Operation in Mozambique,
cit., § 21.
64
Progress Report on the United Nations Operation in Mozambique, S/1994/1196, of 21 October 1994, § 4,
available at https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N94/411/21/PDF/N9441121.pdf?OpenElement
[23.04.2019].
65
Final Report of the Secretary-General on the United Nations Operation in Mozambique, S/1994/1449, of 23
December 1994, § 6, available at https://documents-ddsny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N94/515/76/PDF/N9451576.pdf?OpenElement [23.04.2019].
RSCAS/GLOBALCIT-CR 2019/6 - © 2019 Author
21
Select target paragraph3
Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents