
Maputo, 8 Sep (AIM) – Daniel Chapo, the candidate of Mozambique’s ruling Frelimo Party in the presidential election scheduled for 9 October, has promised to transfer the headquarters of the country’s parliament, the Assembly of the Republic, from Maputo to Mocuba in the central province of Zambezia.
He made this promise on Friday, in an election rally, in the Zambezia district of Gile. According to a report in the independent newsheet “Carta de Mocambique”, Chapo explained this proposal with the need for decentralization, with different cities acting as the political, economic, tourist and judicial capitals of the country.
Mocuba is close to the geometrical centre of the country. But it does not yet have many of the facilities required for a functioning parliament, or for the accommodation of 250 parliamentary deputies. Nor does it have an airport – the nearest airport is in the Zambezia provincial capital, Quelimane.
For some years, the Assembly of the Republic has been discussing building a new “parliamentary citadel” in the municipal district of Katembe, on Maputo Bay opposite the centre of the city. This would include parliamentary offices and residences for the deputies.
Chapo did not clarify whether, with the proposal to move the Assembly to Mocuba, the plans for Katembe would now be jettisoned. He also did not explain how much the move would cost.
At the same rally, Chapo also promised that, if elected, he would pave the 200 kilometre road linking Gile to the main north-south highway (EN1), rehabilitate rural hospitals, and expand the electricity grid. None of these proposals was costed.
In the Zambezia district of Alto Molocue, Chapo insisted that he would lead a fight against corruption. “There are things that we cannot accept”, he said. “Young people suffer to obtain the documents they need to apply for a job, and after they have submitted the documents, somebody tells them that, to be admitted, they must pay money. We must do away with this, because if a young person is looking for a job, it’s precisely because he doesn’t have any money”.
In Milange district, Chapo promised to attract investments to transform local agriculture into a commercial activity, and to install agro-processing factories, in order to create more jobs.
In Morrumbala district, Chapo pledged to build a bridge over the Shire river, and to re-open the local cotton factory.
Everywhere he went in Zambezia, Chapo promised to pave more roads, and expand the electricity and water supply, but at no stage did he say where the money to turn his plans into realities would come from.
(AIM)
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