Maputo — Mozambique's ruling Frelimo Party on Saturday night chose the governors of Sofala, Manica and Maputo provinces, respectively Lourenco Bulha, Francisco Tomas and Manuel Tule, to head the Frelimo lists for the provincial elections scheduled for 9 October.
All three of these governors were elected unopposed at extraordinary meetings of the Frelimo provincial committees. Bulha and Tomas won 100 per cent of the votes, while, according to the Frelimo First Secretary in Maputo province, Avelino Muchine, Tule "won about 99 per cent of the votes'.
Since there were no other candidates, this must mean that a few members of the provincial committee cast blank ballots or invalid votes.
"This shows that the comrades have total confidence in our comrade Tule', Muchine told AIM.
The same meetings also elected candidates for the future provincial assemblies. Muchine said this was a lengthy, but transparent procedure, which confirms the existence of internal democracy within Frelimo.
"This was a democratic process', he claimed. "There were many good cadres, and some had to leave to make way for others. We are satisfied with the work that was done, and I believe our candidates can represent us in the best possible way'.
Tule told AIM that his election showed that Frelimo is a democratic party, "through the free choice of the members who should take on particular posts'. These members had "added responsibilities', arising from the trust they had earned within the party.
The feeling "is one of great responsibility since being chosen to implement the programme of Frelimo means implementing the programme of the Mozambican people', said Tule.
In Chimoio, capital of Manica province, Francisca Tomas pledged that, if Frelimo wins the October elections, it will prioritise the creation of better living conditions in the province.
"We shall continue to serve the public', she said, notably through expanding access to electricity. "We had the programme to electrify the administrative posts, but we were unable to complete it because of the Covid-19 pandemic'.
Tomas promised "five more years of development, when we shall have more schools, hospitals and improved roads'.
"My appeal is that we should all unite and work together for our province', she urged.
In Beira, capital of Sofala province, Lourenco Bulha won the votes of all 117 members of the Frelimo Provincial Committee. He claimed this 100 per cent victory showed the trust the committee members placed in him, and he promised to continue the development of the province.
The meeting also elected candidates for the Sofala provincial assembly, and for Sofala's seats in the country's parliament, the Assembly of the Republic.
Luís Nhanzozo, the Frelimo first secretary in Sofala, described the choice of candidates as "wise, didactic and transparent'. The candidates had been elected, he said, with the responsibility to represent the will of the people. He was confident that they will be able to promote competently the social and economic development of the province.
The election of candidates for provincial governor unopposed, and winning 100 per cent of the vote, was largely due an instruction from the Frelimo Political Commission that the existing provincial governors should all stand for a further term of office.
There were two exceptions to this rule. One was Nampula, where the current governor, Manuel Rodrigues, is still out of favour with the Political Commission, because he refused to run as the Frelimo candidate for mayor of Nampula city in last year's municipal elections.
So on Saturday, a businessman and member of the Frelimo Central Committee, Eduardo Abdula. was elected by acclamation at an extraordinary meeting of the Frelimo Nampula Provincial Committee, after the only other candidate, Amisse Mahando, the current chairperson of the provincial assembly, had dropped out
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The second exception is the southern province of Inhambane. The current governor Daniel Chapo, cannot stand again, because he is the Frelimo candidate for President of the Republic. Chapo cannot run a presidential campaign while he is still provincial governor.
So on Saturday the Frelimo Inhambane provincial committee chose the current administrator of Vilanculo district, 33 year old Francisco Pagula, as its candidate for provincial governor.
The Political Commission instruction that the current governors must stand again backfired badly in the central province of Zambezia, where the Provincial Committee overwhelmingly rejected the current governor, Pio Matos, according to the Zambezia media.
"Jornal Txpela', an electronic paper published in the provincial capital, Quelimane, said that only 25 per cent of the committee members voted for Matos. The other 75 per cent of the votes were either blank ballots or spoilt votes.
