quinta-feira, novembro 13, 2008

Mozambique: Beira Mayor Responds to Frelimo Claims

12 November 2008
Posted to the web 12 November 2008

Maputo

The mayor of the central Mozambican city of Beira, Daviz Simango, has dismissed as "lies" claims by the ruling Frelimo Party that the only improvements in Beira during the five years he has been mayor are due to the central government, and not to any initiatives by the City Council.

"You're looking at a marvelous and attractive Beira", Simango told a crowd of supporters, according to an article in Wednesday's issue of the weekly paper "Magazine Independente" (MI). "This is an example to be followed in the country - Beira in development, Beira, where there is no longer any room for cholera or similar diseases, because piles of rubbish, and the practice of defecating in the open no longer exist. That's the work of Daviz Simango and of Renamo".

Renamo, the country's main opposition party, objects to Simango's continued use of its name, because he was expelled from the party in September. In the forthcoming elections he is running as an independent, against both the Frelimo candidate, Lourenco Bulha, and the official Renamo candidate, Manuel Pereira.

"Don't vote for the liars", Simango warned the crowd, "Don't vote for unscrupulous people who for 30 years were destroying Beira. Today Frelimo says that the development of Beira is due to the actions of its government, which isn't true. Where was the Frelimo government when Beira was rotting for 30 years?"

Simango said he was confident of winning a second term of office in the elections of 19 October. He claimed that members of both Renamo and Frelimo have publicly declared that they will vote for him, because he has proved that he can govern the city well.

He claimed that his victory in Beira would represent "the end of Frelimo hegemony in the country", awakening the people for the need for "regime change" (though it is hard to see why Frelimo hegemony would be any more shaken by a Simango victory in 2008 than it was in 2003).

His Frelimo opponent, Lourenco Bulha, who is a well-known local businessman, is putting up a tough fight, and has even tried to win over the Beira churches. On Sunday Bulha met with religious leaders, and promised to appoint a city councillor for religious matters "to rescue moral values".

He accused Simango of failing to deal with Beira's housing crisis, of allowing disorderly expansion of the city, and of finding his own relatives comfortable jobs in the City Council.
"I'm not going to put members of my family to work in Beira City Council, because it's not a company that I own", said Bulha. "There are many problems that assail Beira. Daviz Simango has not solved them, but I am here to solve them".

Pereira, imposed as his party's Beira candidate by the Renamo leadership, finds himself in an awkward position, since so much of the Renamo structure in Beira is supporting Simango. He has repeatedly accused Simango of "betrayal", of "lust for power", and of wanting to overthrow Renamo leader Afonso Dhlakama. All to no avail - the television coverage of the campaign shows clearly that Pereira is mobilizing far fewer people for his motorcades than either Simango or Bulha.

MI reports that Pereira faced the humiliation of being driven out of the Beira administrative post of Nhangau by Renamo members, who declared that the Renamo figures they supported were Dhlakama and Simango, but not him.

Meanwhile, in the northern city of Nampula clashes have been reported between Frelimo and Renamo supporters. According to a report in Wednesday's issue of the independent daily "O Pais", three people had to be treated in Nampula Central Hospital after fighting broke our on Saturday.

Also in Nampula, market vendors loyal to Frelimo are accused of making it impossible for Isidro Assane, candidate of the country's third largest party, the PDD (Party for Peace, Development and Democracy), to work in the Resta market, on the outskirts of the city. Assane has tailored his manifesto to appeal to the vendors, by promising to cut the municipal tax paid by stallholders from 10 meticais (40 US cents) to five meticais, and to ban foreigners (often refugees from the Great Lakes region) from petty trading in the city.

In Lichinga, capital of the northern province of Niassa, there have also been clashes between the two main parties. Frelimo spokesman Joao Manguinji, cited in the Maputo daily "Noticias", said that on Saturday Renamo supporters had thrown up a barricade of stones and tree trunks to prevent the passage of a Frelimo motorcade. In the ensuing violence, Renamo was accused of attacking six people, including two children.

Frelimo also suspects Renamo's hand in the destruction of the home of Alima Amimo, secretary of the Frelimo-affiliated Organisation of Mozambican Women (OMM), in the neighbourhood of Nomba, on the Lichinga outskirts.

The Renamo political delegate in Niassa, Hilario Waite, denied the accusations, describing them as "just another electoral manoeuvre by Frelimo".

Fonte: Allafrica

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