Maputo — Venancio Mondlane, the independent presidential candidate backed by Podemos (Optimistic Party for the Development of Mozambique), has promised to introduce reforms in the health sector if he wins the election scheduled for 9 October.

Speaking, on Tuesday to potential voters in the town of Metengula, in the northern province of Niassa, he said "my government will work for the people, and it will improve the health sector because the current system does not function, it has no medicines and the health workers are always demoralized.'

According to Mondlane, the resources of the country must be used to improve the living conditions of the population, not merely people in Maputo.

"Mozambique is ours. Among the four presidential candidates, I'm the only one who wants to govern for the people, not for my own purposes. Resources of each province or district must benefit the local residents', he said.

"You must not tolerate abuses. This time, the misgovernment is over. The country is ours, it belongs to us and all of us', he added.

In the neighbouring province of Nampula, Ossufo Momade, the leader and presidential candidate of the country's main opposition party, Renamo, has promised to introduce reforms in the agricultural sector.

Speaking at an election rally in Alua administrative post, in Erati district, Momade said he will promote agricultural production in order to ensure food security in the region.

"You produce a lot here', he told his audience. "You produce rice, maize, sesame and beans. So we're going to set up a factory here to process these products and give jobs to young people. This district has enormous agricultural potential. The people should have access to three meals a day'.

Momade declared that it does not make sense to see a productive population starving. "Our children shouldn't die early for lack of food because we produce it', he said.