This is an acronym for the “National Alliance for a Free and Autonomous Mozambique”. But Anamalala is also a word in the Makua language, widely spoken in northern Mozambique, meaning “it’s over”, or “it’s going to finish”.

The word was used as a slogan during the demonstrations called by Mondlane after last year’s announcement of general election results that he regarded as fraudulent. The “it” that was over was the regime of the ruling Frelimo Party.

Introducing the new party on his Facebook page, Mondlane said Anamalala “is more than just a name. It is a breath of the new time. A signal. A gesture. A whisper that has become a cry”.

“It’s not just a name, it’s an idea with an identity, a word with body and soul, a symbol of a rupture and of a new start”, said Mondlane.

“What is finishing is the cycle of injustice, exclusion and abuse of power. What is being born is the promise of a new Mozambique”, he declared.

The name “is musical, it has strength, it has identity”, “It is easily pronounced in all Mozambican languages”, he said.

“Anamalala represents the end of a system and the birth of a new era – a Mozambique new, autonomous and plural”, claimed Mondlane.The word, he said, “has been emotionally appropriated by the people. That is how words take on souls”.

“We shall all be members”, he declared. “We shall all have membership cards. If we really want to be free, we shall have to embrace this project. It’s not just the project of Venancio, it’s the project of the Mozambicans, of the poor, of the unemployed, of the rejected”.

Mondlane submitted the documentation for the legal registration of Anamalala to the Ministry of Justice. The Ministry has up to 60 days to accept or reject the application.

Mondlane’s legal adviser Dinis Tivane told reporters that within that deadline he expected to call another press conference to announce that the party has been legalised.