Mozambique: Nampula and Nacala Registry Offices Blocking Citizens Lists

Citizens lists as well as parties can stand in municipal elections, and must register with elections commissions by 14 July, in just two weeks. Citizens lists are proposed by associations which are registered with the Ministry of Justice, but in Nampula and Nacala, the registry offices (conservatórias) are blocking registration.

In Nacala, the registry office forced associations to travel to Nampula City to obtain their definitive certificate, but in vain, because the staff at this registry office say that for months there have been problems with the computer system.

The managements at the registry offices are silent. The associations says they are being deliberately blocked so that they are unable to compete in the municipal elections scheduled on 11 October.

Frelimo choosing short lists in Maputo city and province

The head of the list for municipal assembly that gains the most votes automatically becomes mayor; there is no longer a separate candidate for mayor. Frelimo made this change in the law because some mayors developed their own support bases and became too independent of the party. But party in-fighting is cause confusion in  Maputo city and province.

The current mayor of Maputo city, Eneas Comiche, was rejected in internal elections. Three candidates are on the short list. Most likely choice for head of the Frelimo list is Razaque Manhique, the current Frelimo first secretary in the city. The first secretary is appointed by central government, as a way to limit the power of elected officials, and Manhique is seen as the likely choice of the national party. The other two candidates are Edgar Muchanga, the former chair of the Municipal Assembly, and a retired official of the Maputo municipality and Domingas de Sousa, head of Ka-Maxaquene borough within Maputo city.

For Matola municipality, the largest municipality in the country, only two candidates were proposed. The current mayor, Calisto Cossa, will almost certainly be the head of the list for Matola, vying for a third term. She appears to enjoy the support of the Frelimo elite in Matola. The other candidate is Beatriz Nhaulau, former vice president of the municipal assembly.

In these internal elections, the smaller municipalities, Marracuene, Matola-Rio, Boane and Manhica presented the largest number of pre-candidates.

In the new municipality of Marracuene, Frelimo will have to decide between two heavyweights: Shafee Sidat, the current district administrator and businessman Francisco Mabjaia, the former Frelimo first secretary in Maputo city. But there is a third candidate also on the list, Jose de Sousa. Although seen as an outsider, de Sousa represents one of the three wings in conflict in Marracuene. The Frelimo Political Commission at national level will decide who will play the best game in the corridors of power.

In Boane, there is confusion. None of the three leaders among the pre-candidates enjoyed consensus within the party at provincial level – the current mayor, Jacinto Loureiro; Mariana Cupane, the current chairn of the Municipal Assembly; and Alberto Simango Junior, the former chair of the Mozambican League of Sports Clubs. So the Frelimo Provincial Committee put forward all eight pre-candidates from the long list for the Political Commission at national level to consider.

In Manhica, of the eight initial pre-candidates, the three chosen are the current mayor, Luis Munguambe, Sebastiao Massango, and Eliezer Mandate.