A bloody youthquake in Mozambique is another sign of the crumbling of the old order in Africa | Estêvão Chavisso

The violent repression of protests reflects a wider trend as Africa's younger voters lose faith in independence-era parties

The bullet ripped through the young man's face, scattering his teeth in a pool of blood on the concrete floor. As more gunshots rang through the air, the joyous sounds of thousands of people who had gathered in central Maputo on 9 January turned to screaming. On my video camera, I continued filming, even as I too started running.

We had known this might happen. Three months earlier, Mozambicans went to the polls in elections that have already changed the course of my country's history.

Estevao Chavisso is a journalist based in Mozambique, where he is the coordinator of Lusa, Portugal's national news agency