It must have been the tech titan of Apple who once said that creation was a messy affair. That view has been especially true of Mozambique since October’s presidential elections. The overwhelming consensus, at least by the standards of social media today, is that the results do not corroborate the will of the people.

In a game of cat and mouse now approaching two months, the leader of the opposition; in reality an independent candidate who has often played political musical chairs has held the country at ransom. A man of the people, a president already in some circles, he has been able to spur the energy of a youthful and livid population into various forms civil unrest and disobedience. His demands are no less than electoral truth.

There is much at stake, Mozambique is an economy that should be raking in billions of dollars from mineral exports, energy and extensive transportation networks, yet it is one of the poorest countries in Africa. The encumbrance to the economy and the situation of the politicians being at loggerheads with each other has many worried. It is not an economy that can afford to hunker, shut down and survive a bad political storm – “our daily bread” is not only recited but lived in the flesh each day.

All eyes are on the Constitutional Court, a supreme court that now has the responsibility of determining the final results. The announcement could either break or make the country. Indications hitherto do not suggest that the fully captured institution will declare results favourable to the public.

When countries are at critical junctures, they have the most likelihood of breaking from the past. That detail was revealed early on by Venancio Mondlane when he embarked on his “Twenty Five Days of Terror” crusade to overthrow FRELIMO which has been in power for almost 50 years.

FRELIMO once the political starling of the former Portuguese colony established itself into power in 1975. The watershed for that was the Carnation Revolution of the previous year and the negotiated handover of the colonies to liberation movements. Except for a few decades of stellar GDP growth, development of the country has been held by extractive institutions which have been moulded to serve a nascent elite.

History tells us that critical junctures are far more determinant of changes, either positive or negative. This is so because changes in other circumstances are often thwarted by those who are wealthy or wield political power and are fearful of losing their place. They will and can do everything to maintain the yoke of power.

The people of Mozambique wait anxiously for the results to be announced on 23rd December.