MOZAMBIQUE CHRONOLOGY - 01-30 SEPTEMBER 1999

ITEM NO. 99/9/01-MZ
MOZAMBIQUE - ECONOMIC POLICY
The Mozambican government announced increases in prices for all liquid fuels, except diesel, taking effect immediately. Thus kerosene rises in price by 10.8 percent, from 2,120 to 2,350 meticais a litre. Jet fuel now costs 2,784.92 meticais rather than 2,555.87 meticais a litre, an increase of nine percent. Motorists, however, will only have to pay an extra 1.9 percent for their petrol. A litre of petrol goes up from 6,190 to 6,310 meticais. The price of diesel is unchanged at 4,340 meticais a litre. The largest increase is for cooking gas. This now costs 7,017.91 meticais per kilo, an increase of 24.2 percent on the previous price of 5,651.81 meticais. This triggered the price changes, which occur whenever the weighted average price of imported fuels, expressed in meticais, alters by more than three percent in either direction. The prices indicated for the government are for the main ports of Maputo, Matola, Beira and Nacala. Elsewhere fuel distributors are allowed to increase the price to cover their transport costs.
From: Rise in fuel prices / AIM / 1 September 1999

ITEM NO. 99/09/01 MZ
MOZAMBIQUE - ELECTIONS - VOTER REGISTRATION
Thousands of foreigners are flooding into Mozambique to register as voters for the forthcoming general elections, and distort the results in favour of the ruling Frelimo Party, opposition politicians alleged in Maputo. Malawians, Tanzanians, Zimbabweans, South Africans - all have been clandestinely recruited to vote for Frelimo, according to the "Electoral Union" formed by the former rebel movement Renamo, and ten minor parties. The accusation came at a press conference addressed by Manecas Daniel, leader of one of Renamo's minor partners. He claimed that 4,500 Zimbabweans had been registered as Mozambican voters in the central city of Chimoio from 10 to 13 August. Their names were in three phoney electoral registers, which had been deposited "in the basement of the Frelimo Central Committee headquarters in Maputo, with the inscription '' silencio (silence)''". This fraudulent registration of foreigners, Daniel claimed, had been supervised by three senior figures in the Frelimo leadership - the head of the Frelimo parliamentary group, Armando Guebuza, Frelimo secretary general Manuel Tome, and Prime Minister Pascoal Mocumbi. Mocumbi, Daniel claimed, "went their one day, and at night left the following recommendation ''good work, comrades''".
From: Foreigners flooding to register, claims opposition/AIM/1September 1999

ITEM NO. 99/09/01 - MZ
MOZAMBIQUE - ELECTIONS - ELECTIONS DATE
Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano issued a decree formally announcing that the country's second multi-party presidential and parliamentary elections will take place on 3 and 4 December. These are the dates proposed by the National Elections Commission (CNE). Under Mozambique's electoral law, the CNE proposes the dates, but it is Chissano who must announce them. Initially there was a serious problem with 3-4 December: careful analysis of the time spans stipulated in the electoral law for the various stages of election preparations showed that there just was not enough time to fit them all in. Thus if elections were to be held in early December, the law would have to be changed. This country's parliament did shortening the time stipulated between the presentation of candidatures and the election date. Chissano promulgated these amendments to the electoral law and they were immediately taken to the government's printing house for publication in the official gazette, the "Boletim da Republica", thus allowing the President to make the formal announcement following day.
From: Chissano announces election date / AIM / 1 September 1999

ITEM NO. 99/09/01 - MZ
MOZAMBIQUE - REGIONAL RELATIONS - HUMAN RIGHTS
The Mozambican Consul in Johannesburg, Junqueiro Manhique, visited the Lindela deportation centre, in Randfontein, about 50 kilometres from the city, to demand an end to repeated abuses against Mozambican citizens, who are accused of residing illegally in the country, arrested and repatriated. Manhique's visit follows reports of the killing of five Mozambicans, one of them a woman, during repatriation. An eye witness to the killings, Sergio Pedro Machava, said that he believes that number of deaths that day could be even higher, if one takes into account that the five deaths occurred before the train was half way through its 400 kilometres journey to the border, and that the police continue beating the deportees all the way to the border town of Ressano Garcia. It was after this report that Manhique decided to visit the repatriation centre for discussions with the relevant authorities. Speaking to two of the centre's inspectors, he demanded that deportation rules internationally accepted be observed by the South African police. "No one is against repatriation, but internationally accepted rules must be observed", said Manhique. As a way to try and make sure that rules are respected and abuses stop, Manhique proposed to the Lindela authorities that the Consulate be allowed to send a group of the iron officials to accompany the repatriated Mozambicans to the border. He also strongly protested to the Lindela authorities that three other Mozambicans, including a pregnant woman, were kicked to death by the police, in Randfontein.
From: South African police accused of murdering Mozambicans / AIM / 1 September 1999

ITEM NO. 99/09/02 - MZ
MOZAMBIQUE - EDUCATION - RELIGION - MEDICAL FACULTY
Two private religious Universities, one run by Roman Catholics and the other by Moslems, have agreed to work together to set up a joint medical faculty in the central Mozambican city of Beira. According to a press release from the Mozambican Islamic Movement (MIMO), leading figures from the two religions have pledged to work for the opening of the new medical faculty in August 2000. It will be run jointly by the Catholic University of Mozambique and the Islamic University of Mozambique. The agreement was reached between the vice-chancellor of the Catholic University, Filipe Couto, and leading MIMO figures, including two parliamentary deputies of the ruling Frelimo Party, Amad Camal and Abdul Khalek, and Moslem theologians Aminoddin Mohammad and Cassimo David. The press release states that the agreement seeks to ensure the training of more doctors "in order to contribute towards the eradication of poverty and a reduction in the high levels of mortality among the vulnerable population groups in our country".
From: Moslem-Catholic agreement on Medical Faculty / AIM / 2 September 1999

ITEM NO. 99/09/02 - MZ
MOZAMBIQUE - ELECTIONS - POLITICAL PARTIES
The general secretary of Mozambique's ruling Frelimo Party, Manuel Tome, categorically denied claims by opposition parties that Frelimo is organising the mass registration of foreign nationals as Mozambican voters, so as to inflate Frelimo's share of the vote in December's general elections. The accusation was made at a press conference held by the "Electoral Union" that consists of the former rebel movement Renamo and ten minor parties. Tome described the whole story as a fabrication. "It's a lie that just shows the irresponsibility of its authors". He did not believe that such gross libels should go unpunished. "We should start thinking about taking legal actions over such matters", he said. "It's not just murder and theft that are crimes". The document circulated by the "Electoral Union" claimed that the registers with the names of the 4,500 Zimbabweans are currently "in the basement of the Frelimo Central Committee building with the inscription 03X silencio (silence)". But Renamo and its allies had not done their homework properly. For the Central Committee building does not have a basement. "You can look for as long as you like", Tome said. "We don't have a basement". A reasonable conclusion would be that the "hundreds of thousands" of foreigners flocking to voter registration posts are just as much a figment of opposition imaginations as is the Frelimo basement.
From: Frelimo denies claims of electoral fraud / AIM / 2 September 1999

ITEM NO. 99/09/02 - MZ
MOZAMBIQUE - INTERNATIONZL RELATIONS - POLITICAL PARTIES
The Africa Committee of the Socialist International (SI) meets in Maputo to discuss the natures and priorities "of the relationship between democratic socialism and Africa", the secretary general of
the SI, Luis Ayala, told a press conference in the Mozambican capital. The meeting, he added, is part of the preparations for the SI's 21st congress, due to take place in Paris in November - "A 21st congress for the 21st century", Ayala described it. He said the meeting would discuss democratic advances in Africa, and "see where there are difficulties, where democratic processes are blocked". It would also debate African conflicts, notably those in Angola and the Great Lakes region. "We will analyse what is our own contribution to peace and conflict resolution", said Ayala. Mozambique's ruling Frelimo Party is a member of the SI, and Ayala declared that the SI "has a sense of identification with Frelimo and takes pride in Frelimo's rule in the deepening of democracy in Mozambique". Ayala described the SI as "a growing political family", of which 140 parties are now members. He boasted that social democrats are currently in government in 13 out of the 15 member states of the European Union, and that the SI's influence was spreading in Eastern Europe.
From: Socialist international to define relations with Africa / AIM / 2 September 1999

ITEM NO. 99/09/08 - MZ
MOZAMBIQUE - TELECOMMUNICATION - LIBERALIZATION
The Mozambican government has reaffirmed its commitment to liberalising the telecommunications sector, starting with an immediate opening of the cellular phone market to competition. According to the source this pledge was given by the Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications, Antonio Fernandes, when he was explaining government strategy to the parliamentary commission on economic activities and services. Currently the company M-Cell, which is a joint venture between Mozambique's publicly owned telecommunications company, TDM, and the German company Detecom, has a monopoly over the cellular phone network in southern Mozambique. (Cellular phones have yet to reach the centre or north of the country). Fernandes said the government planned to open this market immediately to other operators.
From: Government pledges Telecom liberalisation / AIM / 8 September 1999

ITEM NO. 99/09/09 - MZ
MOZAMBIQUE - EDUCATION - ILLETERACY
Mozambican Education Minister Arnaldo Nhavoto said that his ministry's target is to eradicate illiteracy by the year 2007 or 2008. He explained that to attain that goal the education ministry is committed to building more new schools and developing alternative educational methods and technologies, including distance learning. Speaking during a meeting of the education ministry's coordinating council, Nhavoto summarised the new Education Strategic Plan in three points, namely the expansion of education to all levels, improvements in the quality of education and the strengthening of institutional capacity. He said that the backbone of this programme consists of the current reshaping of the curriculum, the training of more and better-qualified teachers and the development of new programmes and teaching materials. Nhavoto noted, however, that for the programme to become a success, the implementation of the plan requires good management.
From: Mozambique pledges to eradicate illiteracy / AIM / 9 September 1999

ITEM NO. 99/09/10 - MZ
MOZAMBIQUE - CULTURE - EXPO-2000
Mozambique is to take part in the Universal Exhibition (Expo-2000) in the German City of Hanover, due to be held between June and October next year, under the theme "Man, Nature and Technology", said a source from the Mozambican organising committee. The source said that Mozambique will display its works under the theme "Environment and Development", explaining that this was regarded as the most appropriate approach and would fit perfectly into the general theme. He added that the Mozambican government intends to take advantage of the exhibition and publicise, among other things, the potential of the Zambezi valley, in the centre of the country. Parallel to its own pavilion, Mozambique will also be part of the joint exhibition of the member countries of the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
From: Mozambique to take part in Expo-2000 / AIM / 10 September 1999

ITEM NO. 99/09/10 - MZ
MOZAMBIQUE - ENERGY - NATURAL RESOURCES - WATER
Solar energy is to be used to operate pumps to obtain drinking water from bore holes more than 70 metres deep in some areas of the central Mozambican province of Sofala, said the provincial director of Public Works and Housing, Joao Godinho. The project has been launched in Buzi district, with the installation of three of these pumps. "In the first stage, the project is being carried out in Buzi district, where the depth of the bore holes exceeds 100 metres and electric pumps are required to draw up the water. We prefer to use solar energy", said Godinho. This project is part of the "UNICEF-18" programme, which, as its name implies, is being funded by the United Nations Children's Fund. "UNICEF-18" built 36 water sources in 1997 and 1998 in Sofala. However, by no means all of them have worked properly.
From: Solar energy to pump drinking water in Sofala / AIM / 10 September 1999

ITEM NO. 99/09/10 - MZ
MOZAMBIQUE - ELECTIONS - TIMETABLE
Mozambique's National Elections Commission (CNE) formally announced the timetable for the second multiparty general elections in the country, fixing the electoral period between 4 September and 19 December. According to the timetable the registration of political parties, coalitions of parties and groups of citizens who intend to submit candidacies for the elections will be undertaken by the CNE, and all papers should be delivered to the electoral bodies between 15 and 30 September". The reception of candidacies for the parliamentary elections, between 4 and 14 October 1999, and the regularity or otherwise of the parliamentary candidates' documents will be carried out between 15 and 28 October. Candidacies for President are to be submitted to the Supreme Court and the deadline is 9 October. And this institution will assess the regularity of the all candidacies for President by 14 October". The CNE will display for the public the final lists of candidates to parliament, and the list of candidates for president, on 15 October. On 17 October lots will be drawn for the position of candidates on the parliamentary ballot paper, and the following day the same procedure will be carried out for the presidential ballot paper. The electoral campaign is to run from 19 October to 30 November and, between 19 October, and the day after polling, 5 December, no opinion polls concerning the elections may be published. The elections themselves will be on 3 and 4 December, and the CNE must publish the official results by 19 December.
From: CNE announces electoral Timetable / AIM / 10 September 1999

ITEM NO. 99/09/10 - MZ
MOZAMBIQUE - SOLIDARITY - INDEPENDENCE
Hundreds of Mozambican students and lecturers from various Maputo higher education institutions staged a march to express their solidarity with the people of East Timor. Reading messages, chanting and displaying banners of protest against the genocide committed by the Indonesian armed forces in East Timor, the students marched from the campus of the Eduardo Mondlane University to the United States Embassy. In their messages they urged the international community to take the necessary measures to put an end to the genocide. The demonstrators urged the United Nations to fulfil its duty by setting up an international peace keeping force and sending it "as soon as possible to East Timor to defeat the Indonesian forces who are promoting and carrying out the massacre". The Maputo representative of the Timorese resistance, Mari Alkatiri, told the demonstrators that the Timorese people will not rest until they win. Alkatiri estimated at 20,000 the number of Timorese victims since the beginning of the massacre, that started shortly after the announcement of the results of the 30 August referendum, where the Timorese decided by an overwhelming majority for independence, rather than for autonomy as part of Indonesia.
From: Mozambican students in solidarity with East Timor / AIM / 10 September 1999

ITEM NO. 99/09/11 - MZ
MOZAMBIQUE - MEDIA - ELECTIONS
The Mozambican Human Rights League (LDH) and the International Media Watchdog, Article 19, launched a media monitoring project to follow the performance of the Mozambican media before, during and after the December general elections, according to an LDH source. Jose Ramos, the project coordinator, said that the project is aimed at assessing how the public media meets in practice the legal requirements for balance and impartiality. The project will cover six provinces, namely Maputo, Inhambane, Manica, Sofala, Zambezia and Nampula. It is thought that it is in these provinces that the vote will be heavily contested if the 1994 election results are anything to go by. Ramos explained that as many as 18 monitors are involved. And at the end the project will produce conclusions and final recommendations aimed at mapping out an agenda for further improvement and reform of the public media in Mozambique by the new government formed after the elections. Launching the project, Andrew Puddephatt, executive director of Article 19, said that much progress had been made in the Mozambican press, but they were still some areas that could do with reform, namely the law on defamation. The LDH president, Alice Mabota, welcomed the project because it would produce recommendations that would improve the role of the press.
From: Media monitoring project launched / AIM / 11 September 1999

ITEM NO. 99/09/13-MZ
MOZAMBIQUE-AGRICULTURE-CLIMATE CHANGE-SOUTHERN AFRICA
The Southern African regional weather forecast forum is met in Maputo between 13 and 17 September to present the forecast for the 1999/2000 agricultural year, and to assess the effectiveness of the 1998/99 forecasts. The meeting, co-organised by the Mozambican National Meteorology Institute (INAM), the South African Weather Bureau (SAWB), and the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), will bring together various scientists, meteorologists and users of weather data in the Southern African region. The knowledge of weather behaviour will allow the drafting of emergency plans to face phenomena such as drought, floods and epidemics. This forum was created during a workshop in Zimbabwe, in 1995, on "vulnerability of economic sectors in the region and extreme climate events". Subsequent meetings of the forum have taken place in Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland.
From: Regional weather forecast forum meets in Maputo / AIM / 13 September 1999

ITEM NO. 99/09/14 - MZ
MOZAMBIQUE - GOVERNMENT - PRESIDENCIAL VISIT
The residents of Machaze district, in the central Mozambican province of Manica, told Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano that they are satisfied with the performance of the government over the past five years, which has translated into improvements in education, health, water supply and communications. Chissano recalled that when he last visited Machaze, in 1994, people did not believe that within five years the levels of poverty could be reduced to this point. "We are happy to find that something has been done, though it is not yet enough. That is why it is necessary for us to discuss the programme (for the next five years) that we will launch next month", said Chissano. Praising the efforts of the local people that have contributed to these achievements, Chissano noted that Machaze has good agricultural potential, and what is needed is to use one's intelligence to produce. In terms of the road network, unlike in the early 1990's, the district capital can now be reached easily by road from outlying localities.
From: Chissano visits Manica / AIM / 14 September 1999

ITEM NO. 99/09/15 - MZ
MOZAMBIQUE - ELECTIONS - VOTER REGISTRATRION - DATABASE
Mozambique's National Elections Commission (CNE) inaugurated its computer pavilion, which will computerise the country's electoral register. CNE chairman Jamisse Taimo pushed the button that set in motion the first of six electronic scanners that read voter registration forms and sends the data to computers. Each of the scanners can read 12,000 pages an hour. The computer staff believes they can transfer the entire voter registration onto the computers in a reliable form in less than three months. Using human typists it would have taken around two years. The computerised register will not be used for this year's presidential and parliamentary elections, scheduled for 3-4 December. The December elections will rely on the hand written registers drawn up by the voter registration brigades. But for future elections, the registers will be produced electronically at the CNE headquarters. The equipment cost two million US dollars, provided by the European Union, as part of its package of support for the elections. Mozambican staff has been trained to operate the computers and scanners. 108 people will work in the computer pavilion in two shifts. The Maputo branch of the British computer firm, ICL, guarantees maintenance.
From: CNE Computerises Electoral Register / AIM / 15 September 1999

ITEM NO. 99/09/15-MZ
MOZAMBIQUE - REGIONAL INTEGRATION - REGIONAL COOPERATION
The Mozambican government believes that it is important for the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to reach consensus between the member countries before the implementation of the SADC Trade Protocol, which aims to set up a free trade area in the region. Foreign Minister Leonardo Simao said that such a consensus should be reached concerning modalities of reducing tariffs and on rules of origin, taking into account the different levels of development of the member countries, so as to avoid "the stronger economies suffocating those that are still developing". Addressing the Fourth Mozambique/Germany Forum, under the theme "Perspectives of Regional Economic Integration: The case of Mozambique", Simao stressed the need for the government to continue negotiations on the matter so that by December consensus will have been reached leading to Mozambican ratification of the protocol. SADC had hoped that the trade protocol would take effect as from January 2000, but that depends on at least two thirds of the member countries ratifying it. So far, only five of the 11 SADC members that have signed the document have ratified it.
From: Mozambique wants consensus on Trade Protocol / AIM / 15 September 1999

ITEM NO. 99/09/16 - MZ
MOZAMBIQUE - INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS - CULTURE
The Portuguese Nobel Literature Laureate, Jose Saramago, argued that cultural "bridges" between Portuguese speakers, in the context of the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP), should be reciprocal, rather than going merely from Portugal to the other members. He said, "a balance is necessary, particularly when one speaks of ''bridges''. It is necessary that a ''bridge'' be built from each country to other Portuguese speaking countries as a way of bringing the peoples closer together and preserving the Portuguese language". "So much is spoken about the CPLP, but it must be consolidated and made visible so that we see that it does exist and is functioning", said Saramago. Speaking before the opening of the second edition of "Lusophone Bridges", Saramago said that building these "bridges" towards each other, depends on the will of the governments and peoples in question. "I hope that the CPLP is not just words, I hope it will be much more, involving many people, governments, institutions and cultures, and all this is a job for all of us", he said. He noted that "Portugal has undertaken external cultural action for many years, but it cannot just come here and do its own thing - it is necessary for the other countries to be willing", he explained.
From: Nobel laureate wants reciprocal Cultural Exchange / AIM / 16 September 1999

ITEM NO. 99/09/20 - MZ
MOZAMBIQUE - SECURITY - POLICE
A new wage scale for the Mozambican police comes into now, backdated to 1 April. The wage scale, starts at 1,058,850 meticais (82US dollars) a month for a policeman who has been in the force for less than a year. This sum includes a 30 per cent bonus as "danger money". Low though this pay packet is, it is much better than the statutory industrial minimum wage, which is only 450,000 meticais a month. A police sergeant earns 1,905,930 meticais a month under the new scale, the monthly wage of a superintendent is 5,082,480 meticais, while the highest wage, that of an inspector general is 13,553,280 meticais (about 1,055 dollars) a month.
From: New wage scale for police / AIM / 20 September 1999

ITEM NO. 99/09/21 - MZ
MOZAMBIQUE - HEALTH - AIDS
Mozambique is to create a national committee to deal with sexually transmitted diseases (STD), and with AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome), and HIV (the virus that causes AIDS) before the end of the year. President Joaquim Chissano, who made the announcement, speaking during the conference on the National Strategic Plan for the fight against HIV/AIDS, in Maputo, said that this committee will include members from various sectors of society. The government has thus recognised that the HIV/AIDS epidemic can no longer be regarded simply as an issue for the Health Ministry to deal with. Chissano warned Mozambican society of the dangers of this disease. "AIDS is not a joke", he said, adding that "the current scenario of this disease is a gloomy one". He said that all development and poverty reduction programmes should take into account the Strategic Plan against HIV/AIDS. The Mozambican health authorities estimate that at least 700 new cases of HIV infection occur every day in Mozambique, mostly among adolescents.
From: National committee on HIV/AIDS / AIM / 23 September 1999

ITEM NO. 99/09/23 - MZ
MOZAMBIQUE - TECHNOLOGY - MILLENNIUM BAG
The main sectors of the Mozambican economy have been carrying out concrete plans to deal with the "millennium bug", said the Prime Minister Pascoal Mocumbi. The "millennium bug" is a computer problem arising from the fact that older machines use two digits rather than four for expressing the year. When, at midnight on 31 December, these digits switch from "99" to "00", computers may believe that they have been thrown back to the year 1900. Mocumbi said that all sectors would have plans to convert their computer systems and emergency plans completed by November. He said that all public services, such as telecommunications, the banking system, aviation, health, finance, electricity and water supply, among others, are becoming ever readier to deal with the problem. Mocumbi explained that besides updating Mozambican computer systems, so that they are "Y2K compliant", the country is also developing an "emergency plan", which consists of a number of alternative procedures to allow the continued functioning of public services, even if computer systems happen to fail. As for funding this activity, Mocumbi said that the country has benefited from a 150,000 US dollars loan from the World Bank. However, under this agreement, Mozambican government contribution is 300,000 US dollars.
From: Mozambique to defeat millennium bug by November / AIM / 23 September 1999

ITEM NO. 99/09/23 - MZ
MOZAMBIQUE - ECONOMIC CONDITIONS - INVESTMENT
Mozambique signed, in Maputo, an agreement on investment promotion with the American Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), aimed at facilitating United States private investment in Mozambique. OPIC is a development agency of the United States government and, in the terms of the agreement it will be allowed to make direct investments or grant loans to American business people, who can either invest as single entities or in partnership with Mozambicans. The US Ambassador in Mozambique, Brian Curran, signed on behalf of OPIC and, on the Mozambican side, Deputy Planning and Finance Minister Carlos Jessen signed the document. At the signing ceremony, Curran said that this agreement will facilitate American investment, and it expresses the confidence of the American government in OPIC and in the Mozambican government's economic policies. For his part, Jessen said that this agreement is particularly important because it will allow partnerships between American investors and Mozambican business people. The US government is granting OPIC 120 million US dollars for investments in the southern African region, out of 300 million for the whole continent.
From: Investment Promotion Agreement / AIM / 23 September 1999

ITEM NO. 99/09/25 - MZ
MOZAMBIQUE - GOVERNMENT - ARMED FORCES DAY
Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano has urged the country's defence force (FADM) to remain in a state of combat readiness "so that it may participate in peace-keeping and security operations in the region". Speaking on the occasion of the 35th anniversary of the start of Mozambique's war for liberation from Portuguese colonial rule, on 25 September 1964, Chissano said that the FADM should also "continue implementing confidence-building measures to make regional security a reality in southern Africa". He condemned the use of force in pursuit of political goals. "As we approach the end of the millennium, we think it would be indefensible for Africa to continue advocating the use of violence as a way to justify any claims", said Chissano. "After the extraordinary example of the elimination of apartheid in South Africa, Africa should seek and find solutions for its problems by developing and deepening dialogue and tolerance". The new challenges as the continent enters the 21st century are not military: Chissano listed them as globalisation, regional integration and the HIV/AIDS pandemic. He stressed the threat posed by AIDS, and politely suggested that Mozambican soldiers should take care about their sexual habits. "It is required of the FADM that it has a social, moral and civic behaviour that allows the prevention and control of HIV/AIDS", Chissano declared.
From: Chissano Addresses Armed Forces / AIM / 25 September 1999

ITEM NO. 99/09/25 - MZ
MOZAMBIQUE - INFORMATION - TV CENTRE
Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano inaugurated in Maputo a new production centre and satellite transmission network owned by Mozambican Television (TVM). The president linked this ceremony to the 35th anniversary of the start of Mozambique's independence war, on 25 September 1964. When the armed struggle began, he said, "many did not believe in the freedom, which the Mozambican people are enjoying today". He added that 18 years ago, when TVM's precursor, Mozambican Experimental Television (TVE), was launched, just as a staff training centre, few imagined that within two decades it would become an institutionalised part of the Mozambican media with a never-growing impact. "TVM is one of the new mass media, created by Mozambicans, as one of the fruits of independence", Chissano declared. The government could be proud of the growth of TVM, he added, noting that the government's 1994-99 five year plan included a commitment to provide the public sector media with the technical and financial resources to carry out their work efficiently.
From: Chissano inaugurates new TV Centre / AIM / 25 September 1999

ITEM NO. 99/09/27 - MZ
MOZAMBIQUE - POLITICAL PARTIES - ELECTIONS
Mozambique's former rebel movement Renamo and 10 minor opposition political parties signed a document that formally launches a coalition, to be known as the "Electoral Union", to contest the forthcoming presidential and parliamentary elections. The document, necessary in order to register the coalition with the National Elections Commission (CNE), recognises Renamo leader Afonso Dhlakama as president of the union. Renamo general secretary Joao Alexandre will also be secretary of the union. The minor parties who have tied their fortunes to Renamo are the following: Mozambique United Front (FUMO), National Convention Party (PCN), Mozambican People's Progress Party (PPPM), Democratic Renewal Party (PRD), Mozambique National Union (UNAMO), Mozambican National Movement (MONAMO) Patriotic Action Front (FAP), Independent Alliance of Mozambique (ALIMO), National Unity Party (PUN) and United Democratic Front (UDF). The Electoral Union has adopted Renamo's colours and flag, and its presidential candidate is Dhlakama. It is believed that in exchange Renamo has offered the minor parties seats on its parliamentary lists in winnable positions. Speaking after the signing ceremony, the chairman of the Electoral Union's general assembly, Maximo Dias of MONAMO said that the Electoral Union arises from the need to defeat the 24 years of "political hegemony" enjoyed by the ruling Frelimo party. "The country needs a political alternative. A country that holds to a sole political party is a lame country", he claimed. For his part, Dhlakama claimed that the people were tired of Frelimo and it was time it slackened its grip on power.
From: Renamo formally launches its Electoral Union / AIM / 27 September 1999

ITEM NO. 99/09/30 - MZ
MOZAMBIQUE - POLICTICAL PARTIES - ELECTIONS
A total of ten political parties and three coalitions have registered with the National Elections Commission (CNE) for Mozambique's presidential and parliamentary elections, scheduled for 3-4 December, according to a source in the Electoral Administration Technical Secretariat (STAE). The parties who have registered are the ruling Frelimo Party and the following opposition groups: PIMO (Independent Party of Mozambique), PALMO (Liberal and Democratic Party of Mozambique), PT (Labour Party), SOL (Social-Liberal Party), Os Verdes (Mozambican Green Party), PADELIMO (Democratic Party for the Liberation of Mozambique), PPLM (Progressive Liberal Party of Mozambique), PANAOC (National Party of Workers and Peasants) and PASOMO. The three coalitions are UD (Democratic Union), UMO (Mozambican Opposition Union) and Renamo-Electoral Union.
From: Elections: 13 Parties And Coalitions Register / AIM / 30 September 1999

MOZAMBIQUE CHRONOLOGY 01-30 SEPTEMBER 1999

Compiled by SARDC Maputo