New Maputo provincial governor takes office

Maputo, 6 Feb (AIM) – Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi on Monday swore into office Manuel Tule as the new governor of Maputo province.

Tule takes over from Julio Parruque, who was elected mayor of the city of Matola in the controversial municipal elections of last October. A parallel vote count by credible civil society organisations showed that, in reality, the main opposition party, Renamo, had won the election. Nonetheless, it is Parruque who was declared the winner and will take over as Mayor of Matola at a ceremony on Wednesday.

Tule is a teacher by profession, and he was previously head of the group of the ruling Frelimo Party on the Maputo Provincial Assembly.

Among the tasks that Tule must now carry out as provincial governor, said Nyusi, are “supervising the services of decentralized governance in the province, guiding the planning and budgetary instruments, and implementing the decisions of the Provincial Assembly.

In coordination with the Secretary of State for the province, Tule must also take preventive or relief measures in the event of serious accidents or extreme events, added Nyusi.

“Participatory governance and decentralisation are still work under construction”, said the President. “In this work, there should be no spectators. Each of us is called upon to play a role, which necessarily involves studying and mastering the package of legislation on decentralization”.

As governor, Tule must “point honestly to what is going wrong, and should be improved, and interact constantly with various other bodies”, stressed Nyusi.

“This requires more coordination about programmes and activities in order to guarantee better results and solutions to the problems facing the people of Maputo province, and to improve relations with all the living forces of society”, he declared.

(AIM)

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