Chapo Calls for “More Effective” Decentralisation

By Paul Fauvet

Maputo (MOZTIMES) - Mozambican President Daniel Chapo has called for a “more effective” provincial decentralisation.

He was speaking in Maputo on Tuesday, when he swore into office new Secretaries of State for Inhambane, Nampula and Cabo Delgado provinces.

The new Inhambane Secretary of State is former Interior Minister Arsenia Massingue. Fernando de Sousa and Placido Pereira were formally secretaries of state in Nampula and Cabo Delgado, and just swap places.

Chapo stressed that his vision of decentralisation rests on a clarification of powers, the elimination of institutional duplications and strengthening of stability. He regarded these as conditions for the development of the provinces.

“The Secretary of State in the province”, he said, “has the vital role of representing the central authority in the province”, and must supervise those services that are not decentralised and those functions that are the exclusive responsibility of the State”.

He said that the new legislation on decentralised provincial governance marks “a phase of transition”, with the abolition of the previous provincial state representation services. This measure, Chapo declared, “meets the demand for greater administrative efficiency, by eliminating duplications and conflicts of powers”.

The new Secretaries of State, he stressed, must remain loyal to their legal and constitutional mandate. He recalled that the Mozambican state “is one and indivisible”, and so government actions must be coherent and coordinated between central and provincial bodies.

Chapo stressed security challenges, warning that the instability caused by terrorism in Cabo Delgado, and its impacts on the neighbouring provinces, as well as organised crime, drug trafficking, illegal mining and fishing, and illegal migration, should be priorities for action by the new Secretaries of State.

“Without peace and security, it will be impossible to achieve success in development efforts”, the President warned.

He noted that the three provinces concerned are all vulnerable to natural disasters such as cyclones and floods. He called for coordination in preventing and mitigating disasters, in articulation with the provincial governments.

As for cooperation with development partners, Chapo called for joint planning and systematic monitoring of interventions. It was the Secretaries of State who should guarantee the coherence of actions on the ground. (PF)