New Maputo mayor promises an end to corruption

Maputo, 8 Feb (AIM) – The new mayor of Maputo, Rasaque Manhique, sworn into office on Wednesday at a thinly attended ceremony in the city’s Independence Square, promised that he will run a municipal council marked by integrity and free of corruption.

Manhique was the mayoral candidate of the ruling Frelimo Party in the municipal elections of 11 October. Frelimo was declared the winner, even though a parallel vote count, under taken by credible civil society organizations, showed that in reality the main opposition party, Renamo, had won.

In his first speech after taking office, Manhique declared that municipal officials should be disciplined and at the service of the people of the city.

“We want leaders of integrity, who can feel the suffering of our population”, he said. “Matters of the municipality should not be dealt with in hotels, because these are not places where a leader or an official holds meetings”.

“We shall not tolerate acts of corruption”, he added. The officials he would appoint would be truly “at the service of the population. Our State is not a place for those without discipline”.

Anyone listening to this might imagine that Manhique regarded the previous municipal council as a den of corruption. But the outgoing Council was also run by Frelimo, and the outgoing mayor, Eneas Comiche, is a member of the Frelimo Political Commission.

The members of the Maputo Municipal Assembly also took office on Wednesday, at a ceremony chaired by the Presiding Judge of the Maputo City Court, Gracinda Muiambo. The Assembly consists of 71 members – 37 from the ruling Frelimo Party, 30 from Renamo and four from the Mozambique Democratic Movement (MDM).

The Assembly immediately elected as its chairperson Maria Nhancale, of Frelimo. She received 36 votes, while her main opponent, Antonio Timba, of Renamo, won 30 votes. Just four of the municipal deputies voted for the MDM candidate, Elisio Freitas, and there was one invalid vote.

The Renamo candidate for mayor, Venancio Mondlane, did not attend the ceremony, although he remains a member of the Assembly.

(AIM)

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