Mozambique Elects Nyusi as New President

Mozambique has elected Filipe Nyusi of the governing Frelimo party as the next president, the National Electoral Commission said Thursday in announcing final results of polls two weeks ago.

The former defense minister won 57 percent of the vote in the southern African nation -- sharply down on Frelimo's 75 percent victory in the last presidential election in 2009.

Nyusi's nearest rival, Afonso Dhlakama of the former rebel Renamo party, garnered 37 percent of the votes -- more than double the 16 percent he won in 2009.

Incumbent President Armando Guebuza, who was constitutionally barred from seeking re-election to a third term, will hand over early next year to Nyusi, 55, who will steer the country as it starts to tap vast natural gas resources recently discovered in the north.

Frelimo, which has ruled the former Portuguese colony since independence nearly 40 years ago, also won the majority of seats in parliament, taking 144 to Renamo's 89. A new party, the Mozambique Democratic Movement (MDM) gained 17 seats.

The elections took place against a backdrop of rising discontent, with rapid economic growth failing to benefit the bulk of the population.

Renamo and Frelimo fought a 16-year civil war that ended with a peace deal in 1992, but Dhlakama took to the bush again in late 2012 as his supporters waged a new low-level insurgency.

He emerged from his mountain hideout just weeks ahead of the vote to sign a peace deal with the Frelimo government.

Dhlakama has accused Frelimo of rigging the polls, but has ruled out a return to violence -- a reassurance for investors interested in Mozambique's new mineral wealth.

The elections saw isolated outbreaks of violence in parts of the country of 24.5 million, while foreign observers voiced concern over alleged irregularities in the counting of votes.

The incoming leader Nyusi is an engineer who has touted himself as an industrious "worker bee", pledging to transform one of Africa's poorest nations.

Noting that his name in the local Maconde language translates as "bee", he told election rallies: "I am the bee that will make honey for all!"

Nyusi represents a change of guard in the ruling Frelimo party, which has been headed by former freedom fighters since independence from Portugal in 1975.

His parents were veterans of Mozambique's liberation war, and he started his education at a Frelimo party school set up for children of fighters.

He studied mechanical engineering at Brno University of Technology in then Czechoslovakia and later took post graduate studies in management at Britain's University of Manchester.

He returned home and landed a job at Mozambique's rail and ports company, Caminhos de Ferro de Mocambique (CFM) in 1992, where he rose through the ranks to executive director of the firm in the northern region.

He later sat on the board of CFM, during which time he founded a freight handling and stowage company, Somoestiva, which critics called a conflict of interests.

Seen as a protege of Guebuza, he was appointed defense minister in 2008, a post he held until he was nominated as Frelimo's presidential candidate in March.

He has been hailed in some quarters for revitalizing a moribund army with the purchase of fighter jets and heavy military equipment.

Nyusi ran his campaign on a "continuity" ticket, promising to carry on the work of his predecessors.

With the economy growing about seven percent annually on average on the back of new coal mines, Mozambique is on the cusp of tapping vast natural gas reserves.