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.

Daniel Chapo of the Frelimo party, which has governed the southern African nation for nearly 50 years, was declared the victor amid violence and widespread allegations of fraud.

Daniel Chapo was declared winner of the presidential election less than a week after two opposition figures were gunned down.

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.

Frelimo party’s presidential candidate Daniel Chapo secures more than 70 percent of votes, election commission says.

Mozambique's ruling party was declared to have won disputed presidential and parliamentary elections by a landslide on Thursday as opposition supporters held scattered protests in several cities that resulted in at least one death.

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.

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

The atmosphere in Mozambique's capital, Maputo, is tense, local media report. Footage shows empty streets and closed businesses. The main opposition candidate, Mondlane, has calle