23 July 2008
Maua — Mozambican President Armando Guebuza on Tuesday stressed that the Local Initiative Investment Funds granted to every district are not intended for immediate consumption, but as seed money that can be multiplied to benefit the largest number of people.
Guebuza was addressing a rally in Maua district, as he continued his working visit to the northernmost district of Niassa. He was referring to the seven million meticais (about 290,000 US dollars) granted from the state budget to each of the 128 districts annually, and intended to provide jobs and boost food production.
"The seven million meticais are like a seed", he said. "It is a fund made available to be multiplied, producing food and jobs". He was replying to complaints by some participants at the rally that the granting of this money to applicants has not been transparent.
Beneficiaries receive this money, not as grants, but as loans. However, repayment rates in Niassa are regarded as very poor - which led Guebuza, both at the Maua rally, and in Mecanhelas district the previous day, to warn recipients that they must not only use the money well, but must also repay it.
Experience in Niassa shows that one of the factors contributing to failure to repay is that some of the District Consultative Councils are failing to play their role as inspectors, and let many beneficiaries redesign the approved projects and use the money for other purposes.
Another aspect, according to a source in the Niassa provincial government, is that some beneficiaries have simply not understood that the money is a loan.
Some people have set up associations only in order to obtain money from the fund, and they dissolve them after that. However, the positive aspect about legalizing associations is that at least some of the members have started understanding that the very fact that they are members compels them to refund the borrowed money.
Another issue raised by the participants to the rally was the destruction of houses and crops by wild animals, particularly elephants. One of them even claimed that villages are disappearing because their inhabitants are seeking refuge in safer areas.
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