2 April 2008
Maputo — The Mozambican government is proposing to grant a further ten towns municipal status, the Minister of State Administration, Lucas Chomera, announced on Tuesday.
Currently there are 33 municipalities. These are all 23 urban areas that have the category of a city, plus one town in each of the ten provinces. The government's proposal, contained in a bill that will now be submitted to the country's parliament, the Assembly of the Republic, pushes the total number of municipalities up to 43.
The ten proposed new municipalities, again one for each province, are the following, listed from south to north: Namaacha (Maputo province), Macia (Gaza), Massinga (Inhambane), Gorongosa (Sofala), Gondola (Manica), Ulongue (Tete), Alto Molucue (Zambezia), Ribaue (Nampula), Mueda (Cabo Delgado) and Marrupa (Niassa).
If the Assembly accepts this proposal and passes the bill during the current parliamentary sitting, it will be possible to hold elections for mayors and municipal assemblies in the ten new municipalities, as well as the existing 33, in the country's third local elections scheduled for later this year.
Speaking to reporters, after a meeting of the government, Chomera said that a government multi-disciplinary team carried out a study which found that these ten towns would be viable municipalities. The study looked at demographic factors, at the social and economic development of each of the towns and - a critical factor for municipalisation - at their capacity to generate their own revenue from local taxation and fees.
But even now, no municipality raises enough funds to cover its expenses. Chomera said that the Maputo municipality (easily the richest part of the country) generates revenue that meets 40 per cent of its expenditure. Between them, the other 32 municipalities raise enough to cover only 30 per cent of their costs. The deficit is met by the central government out of two mechanisms in the state budget, the Local Authority Compensation Fund, and the Local Initiative Investment Fund.
The government also approved decrees on new identity cards and passports for Mozambicans, and new residence cards for foreigners. According to the Deputy Minister of Planning and Development, Victor Bernardo, the new documents will contain biometric data, and the entire system will be fully computerised.
Existing documents will be valid until their expiry date, and when citizens apply for new or renewed documents they will receive the biometric version.
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