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Title: | 'Kummwangalela guebuza': the Mozambican general elections of 2004 in Mudumbe and the roots of the loyalty of Makonde people to Frelimo |
Author: | Israel, Paolo |
Year: | 2006 |
Periodical: | Lusotopie |
Volume: | 13 |
Issue: | 2 |
Pages: | 103-125 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | Mozambique |
Subjects: | Makonde Frelimo political attitudes ethnicity elections 2004 Politics and Government History and Exploration Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) |
Link: | https://doi.org/10.1163/17683084-01302007 |
Abstract: | For strategic reasons, Makonde people were the backbone of the Frelimo army during the Mozambican war of independence. Since then, Makonde people are almost fanatically devoted to Frelimo. During the Mozambican general elections of December 2004, the people of the district of Muidumbe enthusiastically supported the candidature of Armando Emílio Guebuza throughout a massive electoral campaign, during which members of the other parties were often threatened and harassed. The elder women of Muidumbe organized a special ceremony to propitiate Guebuza's candidature, as if he were a boy undergoing initiation ('likumbi'). This shows how politics and ritual are deeply intertwined in Makonde society. This paper addresses the issue of Makonde 'ethnic' loyalty to Frelimo, through a description of the 2004 elections in Muidumbe. It shows how Frelimo became a cornerstone of Makonde identity because of the processes of radical transformation that Makonde society underwent during the war of liberation and in its aftermath. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. in English, Portuguese and French. [Journal abstract] |