13 November 2008
Maputo — The candidate for mayor of the southern Mozambican city of Matola for the ruling Frelimo Party, Arao Nhancale, promised on Wednesday to defend the citizens of Matola against criminals by improving public lighting.
Speaking to people from Khongolote and 1st May neighbourhoods, Nhancale said that crime is greatly worsened by the absence of street lights. He promised to work on public lighting and transform Matola into "a city without darkness".
"We know that the criminals make use of the dark to attack their victims", said Nhancale.
He also pledged to expand the pre-paid electricity metering system (known as Credelec), which is so far only operational in a few Matola neighbourhoods in the form of isolated projects.
His rival from the former rebel movement Renamo, Jose Samo Gudo, was also campaigning on the issue of electricity. He promised on Wednesday that, if he is elected, Matola City Council will subsidise the installation fee for new customers of the electricity company, EDM.
Samo Gudo said he was adding this promise to his campaign, after people attending the rally complained of the high cost of connecting their homes to the national grid.
He told AIM that in the Matola C neighbourhood, he had also noted problems of erosion, lack of transport and lack of clean drinking water.
In the central city of Beira, the current mayor, Daviz Simango, found on Wednesday that his own popularity made it impossible for him to campaign door to door. According to a report in Thursday's issue of the independent daily "O Pauis", wherever he went in the Beira suburbs, crowds gathered eager to shake his hand, but making it impossible for him to speak to individual voters.
He said that this enthusiastic support arose from the fact that he is the only candidate in the race who has actually done something for the people of Beira. "I am only campaigning because of the electoral law", he said. "In reality, the people have already re-elected me".
"For three decades, various mayors from Frelimo have ruled this municipality, but none of them were concerned with the well-being of the people", he claimed. "But in just five years, we have made Beira a reference point in many areas, and have improved the Council's assistance to the citizens".
Simango's two main rivals, Lourenco Bulha of Frelimo, and Manuel Pereira of Renamo (the party from which Simango was expelled in September), are making a wide range of promises to the electorate. Thus Bulha has promised that, if he is elected mayor, the City Council will build 1,000 new homes for low income families, a secondary school in the densely populated suburb of Munhava, and a new football field.
Pereira on Wednesday promised that the Council will act as guarantor for Beira citizens who want to open businesses and need credit from the banks. "Instead of seeing the banks seize your property, we shall assume the debts in the event of non-payment", he promised. "We won't transform the municipality into a bank - this will just be an act to support the needy".
Pereira alleged that the reason there is unemployment in Beira is because "that young man at the head of the City Council (.e. Simango) only thinks about filling his own pockets, and those of his relatives and close friends".
He promised that, if wins on 19 November, he will form partnerships and twinning agreements that will attract investment and employment to Beira.
When Pereira visited Beira Central Market, the vendors said they might vote for him, if he promised to put rehabilitation of the market high on his list of priorities. He seized the opportunity to blame Simango for the lack of bathrooms and running water in the market, and the consequent poor hygiene.
The current Council leadership, Pereira claimed, was only interested in charging the market vendors "exorbitant taxes", and made no effort to ensure that the market could operate in minimally decent conditions.
The vendors also protested at unfair competition from unlicensed traders selling in the streets, and Pereira promised to do all in his power to bring them into the municipal markets to occupy the many currently vacant stalls.
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