Daniel Chapo
Daniel Francisco Chapo (born 6 January 1977) is a Mozambican politician, lawyer and jurist who has been the president of Mozambique since 15 January 2025. Chapo previously served as the governor of Inhambane Province from 2016 to 2024. Chapo was the Secretary-General and candidate of the ruling political party, FRELIMO, for the 2024 presidential election.
Daniel Chapo | |
|---|---|
 Chapo in 2025 | |
| 5th President of Mozambique | |
| Assumed office 15 January 2025 | |
| Prime Minister | Maria Benvinda Levy[1] |
| Preceded by | Filipe Nyusi |
| Governor of Inhambane Province | |
| In office 4 March 2016 – 23 May 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Agostinho Trinta |
| Succeeded by | Eduardo Mussanhane[2] |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 6 January 1977 Inhaminga, Sofala Province, Mozambique |
| Party | FRELIMO |
| Spouse |
Gueta Sulemane Chapo
(m. 2009) |
| Children | 4 |
| Alma mater | Eduardo Mondlane University Catholic University of Mozambique |
Daniel Francisco Chapo (born 6 January 1977) is a Mozambican politician, lawyer and jurist who has been the president of Mozambique since 15 January 2025. Chapo previously served as the governor of Inhambane Province from 2016 to 2024. Chapo was the Secretary-General and candidate of the ruling political party, FRELIMO, for the 2024 presidential election.
Early life and education
[edit]Chapo was born on 6 January 1977 in Inhaminga, Sofala Province, Mozambique.[3] He had his primary school education in Inhaminga from 1982 to 1985, then in Dondo District from 1986 to 1987, and had secondary education in Dondo District from 1988 to 1996, then at Escola Secundária Samora Machel in Beira from 1997 to 1998.[3] He attended Eduardo Mondlane University in Maputo and studied law, graduating with a degree in 2000.[4] Chapo became a notary public in 2004.[4] He later received a master's degree in development management from the Catholic University of Mozambique in 2014.[5]
Chapo worked as an announcer for Rádio Miramar in Beira from 1997 to 1998 and later was a news presenter for Televisão Miramar in the capital from 2003 to 2004.[3][6] He was appointed conservator of Nacala-Porto in 2005.[3] He interned for a bar association from 2007 to 2008 and also taught political science and constitutional law at Maputo Pedagogical University in 2009.[3][7]
Political career
[edit]Chapo entered politics with the party FRELIMO in 2009, being appointed administrator of the Nacala-a-Velha District.[3] He later became administrator of the Palma District in 2015.[3]
Governor of Inhambane
[edit]Chapo was appointed the governor of Inhambane Province on 4 March 2016.[3] Three years later, he was elected to the position during the general elections in October 2019.[3]
On 5 May 2024, Chapo was announced as the FRELIMO candidate for the 2024 presidential election, to replace the term-limited Filipe Nyusi, with 225 votes (94%) by the party committee.[8][9] Considered relatively unknown, his nomination was seen as a surprise.[10][11] On 13 May, he was appointed the party's interim secretary-general.[12] He later announced his resignation as governor of Inhambane Province, which was approved by the legislature on 23 May, to focus on the election on 9 October.[13] He would be succeeded as governor of Inhambane province by Eduardo Mussanhane, the Speaker of the Inhambane Provincial Assembly.[2]
Presidential candidate
[edit]Chapo is the first FRELIMO presidential candidate to have been born after the country's independence from Portugal in 1975.[9] Due to the dominance of FRELIMO in Mozambican politics, Chapo was viewed as the favorite to win the election.[6][14][15] On 24 October, Mozambique's electoral commission announced that Chapo won the election with 71% of the vote[16] —however, the election was marred by allegations of widespread fraud and irregularities.[17][18] The opposition PODEMOS party disputed the results, publishing their own parallel count from their election monitors which showed Venâncio Mondlane won with 53% of the vote. PODEMOS provided over 660 pounds of tabulated ballots to support their election count.[19] The result was also questioned by the Episcopal Conference of Mozambique and the European Union, while deadly protests broke out over the election results, with at least 250 deaths, mostly demonstrators being killed by police and army forces.[20][21]
Presidency
[edit]Despite protests, Chapo was inaugurated as president on 15 January 2025.[22] On 18 January 2025 Chapo named Maria Benvinda Levy as Prime Minister.[23]
Personal life
[edit]Chapo is married to Gueta Sulemane Chapo[24] and has four children.[3] He is a Christian.[3]
References
[edit]- ^ "Mozambique: President names former Justice Minister as Prime Minister". clubofmozambique.com.
- ^ a b "Mozambique: President swears in new governor of Inhambane province". clubofmozambique. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Daniel Francisco Chapo". Quem é Quem: Secretários de Estado nas Províncias e Governadores de Províncias (2020-2024) [Who's Who: Secretaries of State in the Provinces and Provincial Governors (2020-2024)] (in Portuguese). Maputo: Public Information Bureau. June 2022. pp. 109–110. Archived from the original on 25 April 2024. Retrieved 31 May 2024 – via Issuu.
- ^ a b "Quem é Daniel Chapo? Um breve perfil do candidato presidencial da Frelimo" [Who is Daniel Chapo? A brief profile of Frelimo's presidential candidate] (in Portuguese). Televisão de Moçambique. 6 May 2024.
- ^ Lusa (6 May 2024). "Daniel Chapo é o candidato da Frelimo a Presidente de Moçambique" [Daniel Chapo is Frelimo's candidate for President of Mozambique]. Público (in Portuguese).
- ^ a b Hill, Matthew; Nhamirre, Borges (5 May 2024). "Chapo is Mozambique Ruling Party's Surprise Pick as New Leader". Bloomberg News – via archive.ph.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "Daniel Chapo, 47, Announced As Ruling Party's Candidate in October Presidential Election". The New Times. 8 May 2024 – via AllAfrica.
- ^ Mangwiro, Charles (7 May 2024). "Mozambique's ruling party nominates presidential candidate". Voice of America.
- ^ a b "Mozambique's ruling party announces Chapo as presidential candidate". Reuters. 6 May 2024.
- ^ "Daniel Chapo: the choice that surprised everyone". Zitamar News. 6 May 2024.
- ^ "Mozambique's ruling party names new leader ahead of elections". Africanews. 6 May 2024.
- ^ Chavo, Afonso (13 May 2024). "Daniel Chapo é secretário-geral interino da Frelimo" [Daniel Chapo is interim secretary general of Frelimo] (in Portuguese). OPAÍS. Archived from the original on 28 May 2024 – via Wayback Machine.
- ^ "Assembleia Provincial de Inhambane aprova renúncia de Daniel Chapo, ao cargo do governador da província" [Inhambane Provincial Assembly approves resignation of Daniel Chapo from the position of governor of the province]. Rádio Moçambique. 23 May 2024. Archived from the original on 24 May 2024 – via Wayback Machine.
- ^ "Q&A: How Mozambique got a (nearly) born-free future president in Daniel Chapo". News24. 8 May 2024.
- ^ Avendaño, Victor (1 June 2024). "Mozambique: 10 things to know about Daniel Chapo, likely future president". The Africa Report.
- ^ "Mozambique's ruling party wins landslide in disputed poll". BBC News. 24 October 2024. Retrieved 24 October 2024.
- ^ Mangwiro, Charles (10 October 2024). "Mozambique counts votes in its presidential election as opposition alleges fraud". Associated Press. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
- ^ Peyton, Nellie. "Mozambique counts votes amid allegations of irregularities". Reuters. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
- ^ Hill, Matthew. "Mozambican Opposition Leader Warns of New Election Protests". Bloomberg news. Retrieved 28 October 2024.
- ^ "Mozambique top court confirms ruling party's win in disputed election". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 23 December 2024.
- ^ "Mozambique post-election violence kills 125 in three days: NGO". France 24. Retrieved 27 December 2024.
- ^ "Chapo sworn in following Mozambique's disputed presidential election". Al Jazeera. 15 January 2025. Retrieved 15 January 2025.
- ^ "Mozambique's new president names Cabinet with female prime minister". www.aa.com.tr. Retrieved 3 February 2025.
- ^ "Mozambique's new president sworn in despite opposition boycott". BBC. 15 January 2025. Retrieved 15 January 2025.
