Voters in Mozambique are wary of the possibility of post-election violence, following the decision by the electoral commission to not publish provisional results.

The electoral body indicated that it will only release the final results within the mandated 15-day period following Tuesday’s vote.

‘‘The official electoral results could take a long time to come out, and so that could lead to irregularities and violence,’‘ Egidio Guambe, director of ‘Plataforma Transparencia eleitoral said.

The counting of results itself has not been without incident. Watchdog Sala da Paz said police fired tear gas and warning shots in the central province of Nampula — a Renamo stronghold after opposition supporters refused to leave polling premises to “protect their vote”.

‘‘We cannot say that the process was 100 per cent free and fair but we definitely think it would be an acceptable process where we definitely believe that the political parties also can accept the outcome of these elections,’‘ said Hermenegildo Mulhovo, member of Sala da Paz.

According to unconfirmed reports, police had killed a voter during the incident in circumstances that were still unclear and 73 people had been arrested for “disturbances in polling stations”.