Mozambique's ruling party Frelimo has retained power in this month's national election, extending its five-decade rule in the Southern African state as the opposition accused it of fraud.

Mozambique's ruling party, Frelimo, has won the country's divisive, violence-marred election, extending its 49-year grip on power in the southern African nation, according to official results. Daniel Chapo, Frelimo's relatively unknown presidential candidate, seen as an agent of change, will replace Filipe Nyusi, who has served two terms.

Moazmbique’s ruling party candidate Daniel Chapo has been declared the winner of the country’s presidential election amid claims of rigging by the opposition

Daniel Chapo, presidential candidate of the ruling Frelimo party casts his vote during the general elections at Inhambane, in the southern Mozambique, October

But as a lawyer for an opposition leader, in an election year, he felt it was his duty to speak out. “In a country as upside down as ours, truth and justice have their price,” he wrote, “and the biggest price is the death of the one who says it.