Maputo, 10 Apr (AIM) – Aurelio Machado, the mayor of the municipality of Ribáuè, in the northern Mozambican province of Nampula, died on Sunday.
Aurélio Machado lost his life in Nampula Central Hospital where he had been in a coma for the previous fortnight, following a serious traffic accident in Ribáuè town.
Machado was mayor of one of just two Nampula municipalities run by the ruling Frelimo Party. Five of the seven Nampula municipalities. Including Nampula city and Nacala port were won by the main opposition party, Renamo, in the last local elections, in 2018.
The Ribaue Municipal Council headed by Machado was regarded as an example of good local governance.
Under the current system of municipal elections, mayors are not elected by name. Instead, the head of the list of whichever party wins a majority of seats in the Municipal Assembly becomes the Mayor.
Frelimo has not yet announced its list of candidates, and so it is not clear whether it had intended to run Machado for a further term of office.
(AIM)
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