Venâncio Mondlane

Venâncio António Bila Mondlane (born 17 January 1974) is a Mozambican politician and engineer. In the 2024 presidential election, Mondlane ran for President of Mozambique as supported by PODEMOS party.

Prior to his presidential run, he had served as a member of the Municipal Council of Maputo from 2014 to 2015, where he also served as the head of the Democratic Movement of Mozambique's (MDM) bench in Maputo's municipal council from 2014 to 2015. He resigned from the seat in 2015. Mondlane later attempted to run again for the Municipal Council in 2018, but his campaign was annulled by the National Election Commission (CNE). He was later an MP as a member of the primary opposition RENAMO party from 2020 to 2024. He ran for mayor of Maputo City as a member of MDM party in the 2013 local elections, and again in the 2023 elections as a member of RENAMO. He again served as a councilman in Maputo briefly in 2024, as his 2023 mayoral run yielded him a seat, but his mandate was revoked.

In the aftermath of the 2024 presidential election, Mondlane became a major opposition figure against FRELIMO and their newly-elected leader Daniel Chapo, with Mondlane having gained considerable popularity among young people in Mozambique. The election, which has been sharply criticised by Mondlane himself and various international and religious organisations for election irregularities and alterations of election results, has led to Mondlane making repeated calls for protests and marches against the FRELIMO-led government. The protests, which have included some instances of rioting, have been met with violence by state security forces in attempts to disperse the protests, leading to the deaths of at least 300 protestors as of January 2025, according to Sky News.

By November 2024, Mondlane was thought by Mozambican authorities to have gone into hiding in South Africa. This was later confirmed by Mondlane, with him later mentioning that he had left Africa entirely. He returned in January 2025. He briefly left the country again in March 2025 due to increased violence, but has since returned to Mozambique.