Filipe Nyusi

Nyusi took office as Minister of Defence on 27 March 2008, succeeding Tobias Joaquim Dai.[23] Nyusi's appointment came almost exactly one year after the fire. The resulting explosions of munitions at the Malhazine armory in Maputo killed more than 100 people and destroyed 14,000 homes. A government-appointed investigative commission concluded that negligence played a role in the disaster, and Dai "was blamed by many for failing to act on time to prevent the loss of life".[24]

In September 2012, Nyusi was elected to the Central Committee of FRELIMO, the ruling party, at its 10th congress.[25]

On 1 March 2014, the FRELIMO Central Committee elected Nyusi as the party's candidate for the 2014 presidential election. In the first round of voting, he received 46% of the vote—well ahead of the second-place candidate, Luisa Diogo, but short of the majority needed to win outright. He defeated Diogo in the second round with 68% to her 31%. Although Nyusi was regarded as relatively obscure compared to the other candidates,[25] he was most closely identified with President Guebuza. It was generally believed that the selection of Nyusi as FRELIMO's candidate would enable Guebuza, who was required to step down due to term limits, to retain substantial power after leaving office. Diogo, the defeated candidate, was associated with opposition to Guebuza within the party.[26]

Nyusi and his FRELIMO party won a landslide victory in an election that the opposition branded a "mega fraud".[27] The elections were marked by assassinations and significant intimidation of prominent leaders of opposition parties and election observers.[9][28][29] Local elections observers, civil society organizations, the Commonwealth Observer Group, and the European Union Election Observation Mission, reported significant intimidation, violence, and fraud during the election period.[7][8][30][31][32][33][34][35] State resources, media, and aid for cyclone victims were extensively used in favor of FRELIMO, the ruling party, and its candidates.[8][7] Nyusi, the incumbent president, was re-elected with 73% of the vote. The main opposition party RENAMO as well as the other opposition parties involved in the elections, contested the results, claiming there were numerous irregularities and accusing FRELIMO of "massive electoral fraud", including hundreds of thousands of "ghost voters".[36] As evidence for the international community, Ossufo Momade, the president of RENAMO, transported to Europe a box filled with voting ballots that had been marked in favor of Nyusi before the start of the vote.[37][38][39]

Since armed conflict re-emerged in 2013,[51] the country has engaged in multiple efforts to secure peace.[52][53] However, while these processes did not resolve the situation, they provided the platform to advance the peace process further. When the opportunity presented itself in December 2016,[54] President Nyusi reopened dialogue with Renamo’s leadership, through a nationally-owned peace process that involved direct negotiations with the President of Renamo, the late Afonso Dhlakama. As part of the negotiations, President Nyusi travelled to Gorongosa to meet with Dhlakama. This was the first time in the country’s history that a sitting president travelled to Renamo’s stronghold.[55]

President Nyusi’s efforts culminated in the signing of the Maputo Accord for Peace and National Reconciliation in August 2019.[56] The occasion was witnessed by Namibia's President-in-Office of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), Hage Geingob, the President of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, Former Presidents of Mozambique (Joaquim Chissano) and Tanzania (Jakaya Kikwete), the President of the Contact Group (Mirko Manzoni) and the Representative of Sant’Egidio Community (Matteo Zuppi).[57] Since the signing of the Accord, both parties have consistently implemented agreements reached leading to the deepening of decentralisation and the implementation of the disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) process.[58] In December 2021, Nyusi announced that 3,267 DDR beneficiaries (including 156 women), 63% of the total number registered as part of the DDR process, are now beginning their reintegration back into society across the country and have expressed satisfaction with the way the process is being conducted.[59]

Nyusi is accused of corruption related to illegal loans (also known as "hidden debts") that caused an economic crisis in Mozambique.[60][61][62] The government of Mozambique brought legal action in the United Kingdom to challenge the validity of the loans, as they were contracted under English law. Privinvest, in their defence, alleged that Nyusi had received payments as campaign contributions.[63] Mozambican law prohibits public officials from receiving personal payments from third parties in connection with their current or former public officials.[64][65] Credit Suisse and VTB have argued that the Mozambican government is liable to repay the loans.[66]

In the legal actions in New York (20 November 2019) and London (15 January 2021), it was alleged that Nyusi was one of the numerous officials who received bribes, in his case at least 2 million dollars and 1 million dollars, respectively.[67][68] Armando Guebuza, President of Mozambique during the time of the alleged incident, stated during a hearing with attorney general Ana Sheila Marrengula on 30 September 2020 that Nyusi should be arrested to better clarify the loans because the money from the loans that went to Ematum and MAM was intended to guarantee the defence and security of the country, and Nyusi was the Minister of Defence at the time.[69][70][71] The independence of the judiciary in Mozambique has been questioned by experts.[72][73][74]

Guebuza, who was instrumental in ensuring the selection of Nyusi as FRELIMO's candidate to allow Guebuza to retain influence after leaving office,[26] is also listed as a defendant in the legal action in London in the context of the hidden loans.[75][76][60]

Nyusi's government has been accused of using death squads (Portuguese: esquadrões da morte) to assassinate individuals in opposition to the Mozambican government.[77][78][79][80][29][50] There are also reports and accusations of corpse mutilation and extrajudicial assassinations of civilians by government security forces, including the Mozambique Defence Armed Forces and the Mozambique Rapid Intervention Police.[81]