The United States administration denounced the weekend deaths of two Mozambique opposition members, demanding a prompt and comprehensive inquiry ahead of protests against a disputed election outcome.

According to the US State Department website, the US is the largest bilateral donor to Mozambique, providing approximately $560 million annually in aid.

Washington, along with the EU and Portugal, condemned and demanded an investigation into the murders of opposition lawyer Elvino Dias and party official Paulo Guambe, who were shot in their car on Saturday.

“The United States condemns the killings of lawyer Elvino Dias and Podemos parliamentary candidate Paulo Guambe in Mozambique,” the U.S. State Department said in a statement.

“We join the calls made by all four of Mozambique’s national political parties in urging a swift and thorough investigation.”

In the capital Maputo, demonstrators gathering near the location where the two opposition party leaders were shot dead on Saturday following a contentious election were met with gunshots and tear gas by Mozambique police on Monday.

Early results from Mozambique’s general election on October 9 indicate that the ruling Frelimo party is projected to win again. The final results are anticipated this week. Candidates in opposition claim the poll was manipulated.

Since 1975, Frelimo has governed the southern African nation, and opposition leaders, civic society, and election monitors have accused him of electoral fraud. It refutes the accusations.

The State Department called on Mozambique’s political leaders, residents, stakeholders, and state institutions to settle electoral disputes legally and peacefully while avoiding inflammatory rhetoric and violence.

According to a recent report, Nigerians spent over $2.38 million on international healthcare services between January and June 2024.

The amount spent on social and health-related services under the sectoral use of foreign money supports this, according to a study released by the Central Bank of Nigeria.

The report’s breakdown shows that $2.3 million was spent in January, $0.00 million in February, $0.01 million in March, $0.00 million in April, $0.05 million in May, and $0.02 million in June.

According to our reporter, the first half of 2023 saw higher spending on overseas healthcare-related services than the second half, which ran from July to December and totalled $0.69 million.

The amount spent from January to June of this year increased by $1.69 million, according to the development. However, there was a $0.75 million decrease from the $3.13 million number for the first half of 2023.

President Bola Tinubu claimed that the outbound medical tourism tendency would be reversed when he launched the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority, a healthcare expansion program that would retrain 120,000 frontline healthcare personnel.

According to Tanimola Akande, a former National Chairman of the Association of Public Health Physicians of Nigeria and a professor of public health at the University of Ilorin in Kwara State, the CBN’s reported rise in medical tourism costs is a sign that a significant amount of hard currency is still being spent on medical care abroad.

Over hundred thousand frontline healthcare workers would receive retraining as President Bola Tinubu launched the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority, a healthcare growth program.

Akande emphasised that “elites frequently promote medical tourism.” This suggests that the cost of medical tourism in Nigeria has not significantly decreased despite recent investments in first-rate private healthcare facilities.

“The money spent on medical tourism, if channelled to improving local health facilities, will go a long way to reduce medical tourism in Nigeria.

“The government should continue to promote investment in quality healthcare services in Nigeria. The government also needs to do a lot more to reduce the brain drain challenge and provide an enabling environment for high-class quality health care to flourish in Nigeria.”