Mozambique News Agency
AIM Reports
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No.228, 27th March 2002
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CONTENTS
Agriculture Ministry investigates El-Nino effect
Assembly of the Republic
Prime Minister criticises tied aid
No problem with Zimbabwean investors, says President
Gang dismantled in Xai-Xai
Satar brothers found guilty of usury
Project to expand Maputo water system
Frelimo official suspended in Cabo Delgado
Japanese aid to the health sector
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Agriculture Ministry investigates El-Nino effect
Technical staff in the Ministry of Agriculture are looking into possible
links between the drought now affecting parts of southern and central
Mozambique and a resurgence of the "El-Nino" weather phenomenon (the warming
of the surface waters of the Pacific Ocean).
"El-Nino" has been blamed for previous southern African droughts, notably in
1992. Once again much of the region is suffering abnormally low rainfall,
and there are strong suspicions that "El-Nino" is the culprit.
Agriculture Minister Helder Muteia announced on 22 March that this research
will continue until a definite link with "El-Nino" is established, or the
theory discarded. He was speaking at a press conference after the end of a
meeting of the African Agricultural Research Forum (FARA) which brought
together specialists from some 50 African countries.
Muteia said that the government's current estimate is that 41,000 people are
facing hunger. They have sold off their stocks of food, and their harvest
for this year is mostly lost.
"What makes matters worse is that the whole region is suffering from
drought", he said. "Even South Africa, which normally has no problem with
grain, is feeling the situation". But Muteia was critical of media reports
that dramatised the situation, and gave inflated numbers of people at risk.
(The daily paper "Noticias", for instance, has claimed that over half a
million people are at risk). The minister declared that "such numbers don't
reflect reality".
The drought was not generalised across the entire country - it was at its
most severe in the southern three provinces, and Muteia pointed out that
this region is always a food deficit area, and usually only contributes
about 10 per cent of Mozambican grain production.
Over 100,000 need food aid in Tete
Over 100,000 people are in need of food aid for the next few months in seven
districts of Tete province, to make up for the loss of large areas of
cultivated fields due to poor rainfall.
According to "Noticias" on 22 March, Tete governor Tomas Mandlate has issued
a call for assistance in the districts of Zumbo, Mutarara, Magoe, Changara,
Moatize, Cahora Bassa, and Chiuta. Mandlate explained that the province
needs at least 1,908 tonnes of grain and 152 tonnes of beans, to be able to
provide 10.5 kilos of grain and 1.5 kilos of beans per month for each of the
needy families.
He said that his government has been working to encourage the peasants to
use low-lying humid lands for agriculture and also to plant short cycle
crops, and sell livestock in order to acquire much needed food.
A multisectoral team, including officials from the National Disaster
Management Institute (INGC), the World Food Programme (WFP), and the
Agriculture and Health Ministries, recently visited the province to assess
the situation.
Meanwhile, the INGC could not confirm reports that 45 people have died of
hunger in the districts of Memba and Monapo, in the northern province of
Nampula.
The chief of the Planning Department of the INGC, Joao Zamissa, said that
"In this case there are no clear indications that there were deaths from
hunger. We are waiting for a report. If the deaths were actually due to
hunger, it is strange that it happened suddenly. We acknowledge that there
are chronically vulnerable areas along the Nampula coast, but there are
survival mechanisms, varying from one place to another".
He said that, following the alert, the INGC has channelled 80 tonnes of
maize and 20 tonnes of beans for distribution in the affected areas,
according to priorities defined by the Nampula provincial government.
Food production plan for drought relief
The Agriculture Ministry has drafted a plan for simplified techniques of
food production to compensate for the loss of thousands of hectares of
assorted crops to drought in several parts of the country.
Agriculture Minister Muteia, speaking during the closing session of a
seminar on food security in Beira over the weekend of 16 - 17 March, said
that projects are underway to take advantage of the higher levels of
humidity in low lying areas, small scale irrigation systems, and timely
distribution of inputs for the second planting season.
Muteia said that, in the most serious cases of food shortages, the plan is
to resort to "food for work" programmes. He warned that a poorly managed
food aid programme may result in "the rupture of traditional production
practices and procedures", which was why his ministry was acting very
cautiously when it came to food aid.
Muteia said that 41,000 families have been identified so far as being in "a
very difficult situation, calling for urgent action".
Between 50,000 and 70,000 hectares of crops were lost to drought this year.
The Agriculture Ministry has made available up to $600,000 to be used, in a
first stage, to assist peasants in the second season plantings.
Muteia explained, however, that it is the provincial authorities' job to
find out the provinces' needs in terms of inputs. "What we want is for the
provinces themselves to decide on the needs in terms of seeds, the
rehabilitation of irrigation systems, and the use of the available
resources", he said.
Teams from the Agriculture Ministry will soon visit various provinces to
determine where and how many support units should be set up.
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ASSEMBLY OF THE REPUBLIC
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Assembly approves new national anthem
The Mozambican parliament, the Assembly of the Republic, on 21 March
unanimously approved a new national anthem.
The old anthem, dating from independence in 1975, was strongly opposed by
opposition parties, largely because the very first line reads "Viva, viva a
Frelimo" (Long live Frelimo). The anthem goes on to make the prediction that
Mozambique "will be the graveyard of capitalism and exploitation".
Since 1992 the anthem has been played, not sung. This did not satisfy the
opposition, partly because they continued to associate the tune with the
words, and partly because in schools up and down the country, teachers went
on teaching pupils the old words.
Two competitions were organised for writing the new anthem, but both came up
with mediocre entries. But when a new ad-hoc commission was elected in 2000,
somebody remembered that the first attempt to revise the national anthem
dated from the early 1980s. Then President Samora Machel had invited some of
the country's best poets and musicians to write possible anthems.
The lyrics and tunes were written, and deposited with the military band. But
the military situation deteriorated sharply, and revising the national
anthem was no longer a priority.
The potential anthems gathered dust for almost two decades. When the ad-hoc
commission revived them, they found that several were better than any from
the competitions.
On 21 March the commission presented the Assembly plenary with three
possibilities. Eventually the new anthem was unanimously passed, with a
vague promise of "improving" the melody over the next couple of weeks.
Assembly passes mining law
The Assembly of the Republic on 20 March passed the first reading of a
government bill on mining by 133 votes (from the ruling Frelimo Party) to
none, with 99 abstentions (from the Renamo-Electoral Union opposition
coalition).
The bill seeks to bring mining legislation into line with all the changes
that have occurred in Mozambique over the past decade and a half.
The existing mining law dates from 1986, from the days of the one party
state and the planned economy. It is therefore not compatible with the free
market reforms that have occurred since then, or with legislation of the
1990s on land use, environmental matters, and investment.
Among the most important changes in the government bill are a reduction in
discretionary powers in granting mining licences, and the introduction of
"reconnaissance licences".
The new bill insists that mining should be in conformity with the country's
environmental legislation, as well as with "good mining practices, in order
to minimise waste and the loss of natural resources, and to protect them
against unnecessary damage".
The bill was held up last week, because the government did not produce any
written estimate of its budgetary consequences. The Minister of Mineral
Resources and Energy, Castigo Langa, argued that there was no need for this,
since there were no such consequences.
Nonetheless, the deputies insisted, and the debate could only start on 20
March once a government document had been circulated stating that
"implementation of the new mining law will involve no additional costs,
since no new bodies will be created to carry it out, and the capital and
recurrent budgets of the existing bodies are already contained within the
approved state budget".
During the debate Frelimo deputies praised the bill, but insisted that
mining projects must bring benefits for people living in the areas
concerned.
Renamo deputies dismissed the bill as useless, sometimes on grounds that had
nothing to do with mining. Sergio Sefane argued that, because Frelimo is
"socialist and anti-democratic", none of its policies could be any good.
"The solution does not lie in passing new laws or changing old ones, but in
changing the regime", he said.
Others took the regionalist line arguing that Frelimo is only interested in
developing the south of the country and has no interest in the welfare of
people living in the central and northern provinces.
Lourenco Juma argued that it was the government's fault that the Alma gold
mine in Manica province, and a graphite mine run by the Irish company
Kenmare Resources, at Ancuabe in Cabo Delgado province, had closed down. The
closures could have been avoided if the government had offered better tax
breaks, he argued, and particularly if it had subsidised the cost of the
fuel (diesel) used by the Ancuabe mine The government did not take such
measures, Juma claimed, "because these projects are north of the Save river,
and Frelimo treats Mozambicans from the centre and north as second class
citizens".
Langa retorted that anyone who thought southern Mozambique was rich should
visit districts such as Chigubo (in Gaza province), a desperately poor and
arid area. The idea that the government discriminated against the north of
the country "is a false claim made by people who have no programme to
offer", he said.
Langa informed the deputies that the Ancuabe mine had closed because the
world graphite market had changed when cheap Chinese graphite. As for
subsidies, Langa said that while some governments are able to inject money
to keep companies open during difficult times, this was not the case in
Mozambique.
Langa said the government was working to re-open the Ancuabe mine, and when
electricity transmission lines reach Ancuabe, bringing power from the Cahora
Bassa dam, it will no longer have to rely on expensive imported diesel.
Renamo deputies had also complained about the coal mines at Moatize in Tete,
which are ticking over at a fraction of their capacity. This is because the
only feasible way of taking the coal to port, so that it can be exported, is
the Sena railway line, from Moatize to Beira, which Renamo destroyed in the
mid- 1980s during the war of destabilisation.
"Those who destroyed the Sena line should not talk about the Moatize coal",
said Langa. "But we are going to repair the line and move the coal, against
the wishes of those who destroyed the railway. We are negotiating with
potential partners so that the line will indeed be repaired".
There was a similar problem with the mineral resources in Upper Zambezia,
said the minister. In the 1980s, Renamo had simply dynamited tantalite
mines, included those at Murrua and Muiane. Langa announced that these mines
are being rebuilt, and will be reopened later this year.
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Prime Minister criticises tied aid
Prime Minister Pascoal Mocumbi has said that it is imperative to reform the
international economic environment and allow the inflow of additional,
untied financial resources to developing countries.
Speaking on 21 March at the United Nations conference on development finance
in the Mexican city of Monterrey, Prime Minister Mocumbi reiterated calls on
the developing countries to honour their commitment to allocate 0.7 per cent
of their GDP to Overseas Development Aid (and 0.15 to 0.2 per cent to the
least developed countries). This is the longstanding United Nations aid
target - and most of the major western powers still fall far short of it.
For example, in 2000, within the European Union, the most generous country
was Denmark where development aid was equivalent to 1.06 per cent of its
GDP. The lowest was Italy with just 0.13 per cent. The least generous of all
is the United States which gives development aid equivalent to just 0.1 per
cent of its GDP - the smallest proportion donated by any developed country.
"We commend those countries that have achieved and even exceeded these
targets", said, Mocumbi, warning that failing to achieve these minimal
targets "will undoubtedly lead us to greater tragedies".
To be of any worth aid should not come tied to conditionalities, he thought.
"As our experience has shown, one US dollar of untied aid has more value
than two or more dollars of tied aid".
For Mocumbi, the conference marked a new and unique opportunity to develop a
new paradigm for international cooperation - "a paradigm that allows a just
sharing of the benefits of globalisation among all nations and removes the
poor nations from their present marginal role into active players in the
process", he declared.
"We came to Monterrey to reaffirm the need for a comprehensive approach to
the issue of financing for development, an approach which must include a
genuine partnership among all stakeholders involved in the development
process. A partnership based on solidarity and mutual trust among all
parties. A partnership founded on reciprocal benefits", he said.
He recalled that when the UN adopted the Millennium Declaration, specific
development targets had been set, namely to reduce by half the percentage of
people living in absolute poverty by the year 2015; to secure equal access
to education for children of both sexes all over the world; to reduce
maternal mortality by three quarters as well as child mortality by two
thirds; to reverse the trend of HIV/AIDS, malaria and other endemic
diseases.
But there is little sign that the war against poverty is being won: the
current estimate for the number of people living in absolute poverty is 1.3
billion, and the figure is said to be growing as 2.8 billion live on less
than two US dollars a day.
If the Millennium Declaration targets are to be met, then there is no time
to waste. "We have to admit that we need to act now", said Mocumbi." We need
to take concrete action that translates our political commitments into
deeds".
Although the international community had launched a series of initiatives
aimed at narrowing the gap between the rich and the poor, actions have not
matched the words. The gap between the poorest fifth and richest fifth of
the world's population has doubled between 1960 and 2000, and the richest
fifth of the world's population enjoys 80 per cent of global income, while
the poorest fifth has just 1 per cent of it. Most of the commitments to
close the gap between rich and poor "remain to be implemented", said
Mocumbi.
"In recent years we adopted the Plan of Action for the Least Developed
Countries, the Doha Development Agenda and the Cotonou Agreement, which are
commendable endeavours that still need fine tuning to make them work for the
poor". Mocumbi said that one of the aspects that needed such fine tuning was
access to markets. He did not see how agricultural products from the least
developed countries could compete in the international market when their
products are not subsidised, but when the governments of the developed world
are giving their agricultural producers subsidies of $350 billion a year.
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No problem with Zimbabwean investors, says President
President Joaquim Chissano has denied that the Zimbabwean commercial farmers
who are working in central Mozambique will bring with them the land problems
that have plagued Zimbabwean politics.
Speaking in Harare to Mozambican Television (TVM) on 19 March, President
Chissano distinguished sharply between the land situation in Mozambique,
where all land is state property, and Zimbabwe, where it is mostly in
private hands.
He pointed out that the white Zimbabweans coming to farm in Mozambique are
investors, "and must follow precisely the same rules as other investors".
Furthermore, there was nothing new about foreigners farming in Mozambique.
"We already have foreign companies in Mozambique working on much larger
areas of land that those occupied by the Zimbabwean farmers", he said. Also,
the opportunity to farm in Mozambique was not restricted to white
Zimbabweans. If any black Zimbabweans had money to invest in Mozambique,
they were welcome too, President Chissano stressed.
As for the controversial Zimbabwean presidential elections, won by the
incumbent, Robert Mugabe, President Chissano repeated his belief that they
had been free and fair, and claimed that "Europe and America do not know
Africa well". President Chissano claimed that the anomalies and "the few
scenes of violence" that preceded the elections had no impact on their
outcome.
President Chissano said he had followed the Zimbabwean crisis over a period
of years. "One cannot assess these elections just through an observation of
a few weeks or even months", he added. "One must take into account a whole s
eries of factors, and we think there was a great opening for a democratic
process such as this, which allowed real participation of all forces. We
think we should encourage democracy instead of discouraging it".
President Chissano argued that Africa should be given time to improve its
nascent democratic systems. "If Africa is to have mature democracies, then
it must be given time, and above all support, otherwise everything,
including the continent's embryonic democracies, will collapse under such
basic problems as lack of food, drinking water, medical care and schools".
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Gang dismantled in Xai-Xai
A captured bank robber has confessed that his gang was responsible both for
the shooting of the mayor of the southern city of Xai-Xai, Fakir Bay, on 7
March, and the raid on a bank in the town of Macia the following day,
reports "Domingo" on 17 March.
The captured thief, 41 year old Bernadino Doane, was arrested last week
shortly before a shoot-out with the police in the town of Chibuto, during
which two other members of the gang were killed.
On 13 March Doane was arrested, the police had already picked up a second
gang member, Daniel Manjate. On 15 March the police attempted to arrest the
gang leader, named only as Arlindo. They sent Manjate to knock on Arlindo's
door. The door opened, but instead of persuading Arlindo to surrender,
Manjate went inside, took a gun, and both men attempted to escape through
the back entrance. Shots were exchange, and both Arlindo and Manjate were
killed.
The police say they are continuing the search for the other three members of
the gang.
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Satar brothers found guilty of usury
The Maputo City Court has found businessmen Ayob Abdul Satar and Momade
Assife Abdul Satar guilty of usury, and ordered them to repay much of the
money and goods they extorted from their main victim, the company Bazar
Central.
The owner of the company, Abdul Magid Hussen, confirmed to AIM on 16 March
that the court has ordered the Satar brothers to pay compensation of a
million dollars. In addition, a debt of 6.3 billion meticais that Magid was
forced to pay has been declared null and void, and the Satars must return
the money.
Fines and legal costs to be met by the Satars come to over seven million
meticais, and they were also sentenced to three months imprisonment for
their illicit loansharking practices.
When this trial took place the two brothers were already in Maputo's top
security jail, charged with the murder of Mozambique's best-known
journalist, Carlos Cardoso, who was gunned down on the streets of Maputo on
22 November 2000.
Momade Assife Abdul Satar, and several other members of the Satar family,
are also accused of the fraud that siphoned 144 billion meticais ($14
million at the exchange rate of the time) from what was then the country's
largest bank, the BCM, on the eve of its privatisation in 1996.
Despite the court ruling, Abdul Magid doubts that he will receive money from
the Abdul Satar family: but he is hopeful that he can regain the properties
which they seized. He told AIM that the matter of enforcing the court ruling
is now in the hands of his lawyer, Albano Silva.
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Project to expand Maputo water system
The Mozambican government's Water Investment and Assets Fund (FIPAG) on 14
March signed an agreement with the French company Seureca Space for
rehabilitating and expanding the Maputo water supply system.
The French company is to draw up the studies, and inspect work on the
project, which should bring piped water for the first time to the
neighbourhoods of Hulene, Mahotas, Laulane and Ferroviario, and will improve
the supply to the neighbourhoods of Maxaquene, FPLM, Polana-Canico, Triunfo,
Costa do Sol and Pescadores. In all, these improvements should benefit about
200,000 people.
According to FIPAG, the project is scheduled to take 22 months - seven
months for studies, three months to select and hire a contractor, and 12
months for construction. The total budget for the undertaking is $13.5
million, financed by the Mozambican government and the African Development
Bank (ADB).
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Frelimo official suspended in Cabo Delgado
The first secretary of Frelimo in the northern province of Cabo Delgado,
Joao Alfai, has been suspended from his post, according to a report in
"Noticias" on 21 March. The paper adds that Alfai was accused of a number of
irregularities, denounced during a recent visit to Cabo Delgado by the
party's secretary general, Manuel Tome.
A source within the Frelimo leadership declined to specify the nature of
these irregularities, but the paper suggested that it may have to do with
abuse of alcohol during a recent meeting of the party's Provincial Committee
in Cabo Delgado.
Alfai, however, denies that he has been suspended, saying that he is simply
on leave. He said he should have taken his holidays in February, but they
were postponed for reasons he did not specify.
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Japanese aid to the health sector
The Japanese government formally handed over, on 25 March, 491 million yen
(about $4.7 million) worth of aid for the rehabilitation of health units in
the areas affected by the floods that hit southern and central Mozambique in
2000 and 2001.
The Japanese Ambassador, Yoshihro Nose, said that this brings to $30 million
total Japanese aid to Mozambican flood victims.
The donation, received by Mozambican Health Minister Francisco Songane,
consists of assorted medicines and vaccines, and a variety of equipment,
including four vehicles, 19 motorbikes, fridges, and solar panels.
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Mozambique News Agency,
c/o 114 Stanford Avenue,
Brighton BN1 6FE,
UK.
Tel: +44 (0) 7941890630
www.poptel.org.uk/mozambique-news
ENDS
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