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Mozambique Chronology:1-30 June 2000

Item No. 00/06/01 - Mz
Mozambique - Health - Aids
    Janet Mondlane, the widow of Eduardo Mondlane, the founder and first President of the Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo), took office in Maputo, as executive secretary of the National Council for the Struggle Against AIDS. This council was created by the Mozambican government, in February, with the task of drafting strategies, gathering the necessary human and financial resources, and working out research programmes to check the spread of AIDS, and of infections by the HIV virus, which causes the fatal disease. During the swearing in ceremony, Mondlane pledged to continue all various activities that the government has been carrying out in this area. "I think that the Mozambican people, without a single exception, should change their ideas on culture and on their sexual behaviour and not be ashamed of talking about these issues", she said. She noted that the prevalence of taboos on AIDS is one of the factors that leads to the rapid spread of the disease in the country, where the Health Ministry estimates that about 700 people are infected by HIV every day. From: Janet Mondlane heads aids national council / AIM / 1 June 2000

Item No. 00/06/01 - Mz
Mozambique - Terrorism - Apartheid
   A former official of the "Civil Cooperation Bureau" (CCB), a notorious death squad of the former South African apartheid regime, confessed in Pretoria, that he carried a bomb to Maputo, during the 1980s, meant to eliminate "enemies" of the apartheid regime, who were then living in the Mozambican capital. The agent, who identified himself simply as "Mr C", "for fear of reprisals", was speaking during a session of the trial of Wouter Basson, the sinister head of an apartheid chemical and biological weapons programme. "Mr C" explained that he carried the bomb to Maputo in 1984. He said it was given to him by somebody he knew well, and who was then working for EMLC, a subsidiary of the South African arms manufacturer "Armscor". Once in Maputo, carrying the bomb in a 5 litre tin, he handed it on to another South African agent, whose identity "Mr C" did not reveal. No human lives were lost in the Maputo blast, but it caused extensive damage to buildings. Two Mozambicans were injured in the blast, and severe damage was done to housing. Some of this damage is still plainly visible to this day. "Mr C" himself was then a member of the Rhodesian "Selous Scouts", one of the most notorious terrorist outfits of the Ian Smith regime. He went to South Africa during the 1980s, after the independence of Zimbabwe, where he joined the apartheid regime's Special Forces, specialising in what he called "delicate" operations. From: Former apartheid agent confesses to Maputo bomb / AIM / 1 June 2000

Item No. 00/06/05 - Mz
Mozambique - Environment - Economic Policies
   The World Bank has approved, through its soft loans affiliate, the International Development Association (IDA), a 5.6 million US dollars credit for Mozambique to assist the government in achieving sustainable economic development of coastal zone resources. Mozambique supports the most extensive mangrove forests and sea grass beds, as well as the best coral assemblages, along the East African mainland. According to a World Bank press release the credit supplements an earlier 4.1 million US dollar grant from the Bank's Global Environmental Facility. "The funds will support the coastal and marine biodiversity management project, which is a key element of Mozambique's National Coastal Zone Management Program - in particular its strategy for coastal and marine biodiversity protection and sustainable use of natural resources", says the release. It is expected that the project, to be tested in the northern provinces of Nampula and Cabo Delgado, will pilot and refine an approach through strategic development planning that balances ecological, social and physical values with the various development interests in the coastal area. From: World Bank credit for coastal and marine projects / AIM / 5 June 2000

Item No. 00/06/07 - Mz
Mozambique - Environment - Investment
   The South African Company SASOL, which is to build the pipeline between the gas fields in the southern Mozambican province of Inhambane, and South Africa, says that this undertaking will be environment friendly. SASOL environment expert Marja Prinsloo said that a preliminary study showed that the probability of any harm to the environment caused by the pipeline "is nearly zero". The study in question, being conducted by the Mozambican company "Impacto" and the South African "Mark Wood Consultants", will be completed by May 2001. Prinsloo explained that the technology to be used to install and operate the pipeline has been used successfully in several other countries, including South Africa. She expected it to have the same success in Mozambique. The pipeline is to transport natural gas from the Temane and Pande fields, in Inhambane, to South Africa, where it is to supply that market, including SASOL's own oil production plants in Secunda. "The pipe will be covered with a material which will prevent leaks that damage the environment", said Prinsloo, adding that the quality of this material is guaranteed for 50 years. From: Gas pipeline to be environment friendly / AIM / 7 June 2000

Item No. 00/06/09 - Mz
Mozambique - Regional Cooperation - Agriculture - Investment
   About 150 Zimbabwean and South African commercial farmers are due to start arriving this month in the central Mozambican province of Manica, said the provincial governor, Felicio Zacarias. The farmers will be encouraged to undertake agricultural and livestock activities over an area of 440,000 hectares, mainly in the sparsely populated districts of Barue and Macossa. Zacarias separated the presence of Zimbabwean farmers in Manica from the current political crisis in Zimbabwe, where self-styled "veterans" of the independence war have occupied about 1,500 commercial farms, and opposition parties have been subjected to harassment and violence in the elections of June. The farmers are being offered land between the Pungoe and Nhazonia rivers "where there is no land conflict with peasants", and which offers favourable conditions for agriculture. Under Mozambique's land law they will have tenure rights for a period of 50 years. The Zimbabwean and South African farmers will concentrate on growing Soya, maize, tobacco and sunflower. From: Zimbabwean Farmers To Arrive This Month / AIM / 9 June 2000

Item No. 00/07/12 - Mz
Mozambique - Economic Policies - International Aid
   According to Mozambican Finance Minister Luisa Diogo, the meeting in Paris of the World Bank's Consultative Group on Mozambique, "went very well, not only because of the financial pledges made, but also because of the consensus that under the current conditions Mozambique will have difficulty in attaining two digit economic growth if there are no changes in certain areas". Diogo listed some of the areas that needed reforms and improvement as the infrastructural basis of the economy, agricultural policy and regional imbalances. There was consensus that there must be "improved performance in these areas in order to step up the rate of growth". The Consultative Group brings together all Mozambique's major international partners, and is the forum where the financing needs of the economy are discussed. These time donors and funding agencies promised 530 million US dollars for this year - although the government had only requested 504 million. For 2001, said Diogo, the Paris meeting gave "indicative figures" of 560 million dollars, of which 75 to 80 per cent will be in the form of grants. This is substantially more than the 514 million dollars mentioned in the government's document submitted to the meeting. From: consultative group a success, says Diogo / AIM / 12 June 2000

Item No. 00/06/13 - Mz
Mozambique - Regional Cooperation - Regional Integration - Youth
   Health, Education and Participation are the guideline themes for the first youth conference of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) that held in Maputo. In his opening speech, Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano said, "it was not easy to define these areas as priorities, because the problems facing young people are many, complex and all call for an urgent solution". Speaking of health, Chissano said that if, on the one hand, the speedy circulation of people and goods within the region, encouraged by improved transport, leads to rapid development, on the other hand, it also helps spread diseases, particularly infection by HIV, the virus that causes the lethal disease AIDS. Speaking of education strategies, Chissano said that feeble economic and social structures within SADC member countries "do not yet allow adequate professional and vocational training", and he expressed hope that this conference will throw up proposals that will help governments find solutions to the question of access of youth to training that will allow them to become usefully self-employed. The President praised the capacity of the SADC youth organisations to set up a regional executive secretariat for youth affairs as a major step towards the integration of this social group at regional level. From: SADC youth meet in Maputo / AIM / 13 June 2000

Item No. 00/07/14 - Mz
Mozambique - Political Parties
   The Mozambican Opposition Union (UMO), a coalition of three tiny opposition parties, with no representation in parliament, announced its dissolution. The coalition's members - the Mozambican Democratic Party (PADEMO), the Democratic Congress Party (PACODE) and the Mozambican Social Party (PAMOMO) - will now each go their separate ways. A short statement announcing the dissolution said it resulted from a meeting of the UMO leadership which "reached the conclusion that the purpose for which UMO was founded was completely fulfilled". That purpose was to take part in the December 1999 presidential and parliamentary elections. But UMO failed to stand a presidential candidate, since it was unable to collect the 10,000 signatures needed to support a candidature. In the parliamentary election, it picked up just 64,117 votes - 1.6 per cent of the total. From: Opposition coalition dissolves / AIM / 14 June 2000

Item No. 00/07/14 - Mz
Mozambique - Racism
   A Mozambican citizen who was the victim of a racist attack in Dessau, in East Germany, died as a result of his injuries, according to a report carried by the Portuguese news agency, Lusa. The Mozambican was brutally beaten in one of the city parks, by three German thugs, who were allegedly drunk. The three, aged 16, 17 and 25, confessed to the crime after they were detained by the local authorities, but justified it with a reference to their "hatred for foreigners". The German police have not yet revealed the names either of the Mozambican or of his three assailants. The Saxe-Anhalt regional Interior Minister, Manfred Puechel, demanded for the three "a punishment that is appropriate for their brutality". This is the latest in a string of racist attacks against people whose only crime is that they are not German. These xenophobic outrages are perceived as the result not only of the annexation, and subsequent pauperisation, of what used to be the German Democratic Republic by West Germany, but also of the recruitment of many youngsters into extreme rightwing and neo-nazi parties. This is the third Mozambican to die at the hands of racists in Germany in the last two years. From: Mozambican victim of Racist attack in Germany dies / AIM / 14 June 2000

Item No. 00/07/15 - Mz
Mozambique - Government - Public Companies
    The Mozambican government appoints directors of public companies on the basis of their professional competence, not their political affiliations, said the Prime Minister, Pascoal Mocumbi. He was speaking at a Maputo press briefing, in response to questions about the demand from the former rebel movement Renamo that its members be given seats on the boards of publicly owned companies such as the telecommunications and electricity companies, TDM and EDM, and Radio Mozambique. This is one of the matters Renamo claims has been discussed in the contacts between Raul Domingos, former head of the Renamo parliamentary group, and Transport Minister Tomas Salomao. But Mocumbi dismissed the demand for Renamo directors of public companies as "political propaganda". "The government does not use support for political parties as a criteria with which to attribute responsibilities", he said. "I don't know what parties the members of the boards of public companies come from". He noted that sometimes members of the ruling Frelimo Party, dissatisfied with one or other director of a public company, "come up to me and ask ''Is he one of ours?''. I say I don't know, and that what's important is whether he's competent". From: No political criteria for public companies / 15 June 2000

Item No. 00/06/15 - Mz
Mozambique - Regional Instability - Racism
There is no danger that the current racial discourse used in the Zimbabwean election campaign will cross the border and infect Mozambique, according to Prime Minister Pascoal Mocumbi. Speaking at a Maputo press briefing, Mocumbi said he disagreed with the fears expressed by one of Mozambique's best-known writers, Mia Couto that the political use of race could spread from Zimbabwe across the entire southern African region. "There is no danger of any racial discourse in Mozambique", declared the Prime Minister. "That's not possible - at least not with the government of which I am a member". He pointed out that the ruling Frelimo Party had never had any truck with any form of racial discrimination. "There's no culture of race here, there's a culture of human beings", he said. "Mia Couto need have no fear". The region had fought against racism, in what was then Rhodesia, and against apartheid in South Africa, and had defeated those regimes, Mocumbi added. He did not believe that any leader in the SADC region, including President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, was a racist. From: Racial discourse will not infect Mozambique / AIM / 15 June 2000

Item No. 00/06/15 - Mz
Mozambique - International Cooperation - Health
   The governments of Mozambique and China signed a Cooperation agreement in Maputo, in the area of health, for the two-year period 2000-2001. The agreement allows 15 Chinese surgeons and traditional medical doctors to renew their contracts to continue working in Mozambique. Speaking on the occasion, the Chinese Ambassador to Mozambique, Shao Guan Fu said that his government is prepared to continue cooperating with Mozambique in various areas. Commenting on traditional medicine, Shao said it is necessary to research into and use the existing medicinal plants in Mozambique, particularly in the rural areas, and that for this task, the Mozambican government can count on Chinese support. For his part, Mozambican Health Minister Francisco Songane, who signed the document on behalf of the Mozambican government, said that this protocol strengthens the long existing cooperation between the two peoples. He noted that Mozambique greatly appreciates the Chinese specialists, particularly in the area of training, because of their experience, especially in general and maxilla-facial surgery. From: Chinese cooperation with Mozambique in health / AIM / 15 June 2000

Item No. 00/06/15 - Mz
Mozambique - Violence - Racism
   The Mozambican government submitted an official protest, through its embassy in Berlin, to the German authorities for the death of Adriano Alberto, a 39-year old Mozambican citizen, who was the victim of a racist attack in Dessau, in East Germany. "We expect the German government to activate the necessary mechanisms for the protection of the Mozambicans that live in Germany", said a source in the Mozambican embassy. The victim, who arrived in the former German Democratic Republic (GDR) in 1980 under the agreements, signed on migrant labour between Mozambique and the GDR, worked at the Dessauabattoir. A wife survives him and three children aged six months, three and eight years, all of which are of German nationality. Alberto was brutally beaten in one of the city parks, by three German thugs, who were allegedly drunk. An eyewitness called the police and an ambulance, which ferried Alberto, who had sustained grave injuries, to the hospital. Subsequently, acting on the witness's statements, the police detained the three, aged 16, 17 and 25, who later confessed to the crime, but justified it with a reference to their "hatred for foreigners". From: Mozambican government protests at racist murder / AIM / 15 June 2000

Item No. 00/06/18 - Mz
Mozambique - International Aid - Gender
   Mozambican Education Minister Alcido Nguenha and US ambassador Brian Curran signed an agreement worth 20,000 US dollars under the "Ambassador's Girls' Scholarship Programme". The purpose of the grant is to enable the Mozambican government to award scholarships to girls who want to train as primary or secondary school teachers. It is now widely recognised that the shortage of women teachers, particularly in the northern and central provinces, where between 80 and 90 per cent of teachers are men, is one of the factors that contributes to a large number of girls dropping out of school before they complete their primary education. The institutions that will benefit from the US grant, namely the Pedagogic University, and the Teacher Training Colleges, must use the funds to increase the percentage of women students. The US embassy must be kept informed of the way in which the scholarship-holders are selected, and the money disbursed. Nguenha stressed that "education is a fundamental right, and an instrument to attain the government's objectives", amongst which he included the struggle against absolute poverty, continued economic growth, and the consolidation of peace and democracy. From: US supports women's education / AIM / 18 June 2000

Item No. 00/06/18 - Mz
Mozambique - International Relations - Investments
   The MOZAL aluminium smelter at Beluluane, on the outskirts of Maputo, took another step towards full production when it cast its first aluminium ingot. The official announcement that the first metal had been cast was made in London by the major shareholder in the smelter, the British company Billiton. The Company chairman Brian Gilbertson declared "The production of MOZAL's first aluminium, under budget and ahead of schedule, is a remarkable engineering and managerial achievement, and testimony to the technical capacity and investment merits of southern Africa". "It was always our hope that MOZAL, and its unique public and private sector partnership, would be a powerful catalyst for economic development in the region", said Gilbertson. The production of metal ingots indicates that MOZAL has started commission its 288 reduction cells - the furnaces in which aluminium is produced from alumina through electrolysis. Production will be raised gradually until it reaches the 250,000 tonnes per year figure in the first quarter of 2001. The smelter is expected to be officially inaugurated sometime in September. From: MOZAL casts its first aluminium / AIM / 18 June 2000

Item No. 00/06/19 - Mz
Mozambique - Education - Health - Aids
   Mozambican Health Minister Francisco Songane said in Maputo, that "the most important factor when it comes to AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) is not treatment, but education, particularly for adolescents, for awareness and prevention" against this deadly disease. Songane was speaking at the signing ceremony for a memorandum of understanding between the Mozambican government and that of the United States, whereby the latter pledged to grant 125,000 US dollars in support of the Mozambican National Council for the Fight Against HIV/AIDS. He noted that most Mozambicans are yet not aware of the seriousness of the situation. Hence the major need now is for education, argued Songane, because it is clear that in most cases people become infected with HIV out of mere ignorance of the disease and the methods of prevention. Songane urged all politicians, regardless of their parties, and society at large, to make their voices heard on the matter. The document was signed by the secretary of the National Council against AIDS, Janet Mondlane, and the outgoing United States Ambassador, Brian Curran. From: Education key to AIDS prevention / AIM / 19 June 2000

Item No. 00/06/21 - Mz
Mozambique - International Relations - Government
   Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano praised in Maputo, the role played by Mozambican diplomats to promote the country's image around the world. Speaking during the inauguration of a Foreign Ministry photographic exhibition, to mark the 25 years of the country's independence, Chissano said that Mozambique is now known across the world and is enjoying foreign support and investment thanks to the work of its diplomats. He pointed out that Mozambican diplomacy predates independence, since Frelimo, when still a liberation movement struggling against Portuguese colonial rule, paid close attention to the diplomatic front. Chissano recalled that in 25 years Mozambique has managed to establish 41 Embassies and other forms of official representation around the world. He said that the fact that Mozambique has become a positive reference point in various areas also brings responsibility. "We must continue working so that the prestige that the world and the people grant to the country is maintained", he said. He added that no Mozambican should allow himself to be used as an instrument to sow violence in the country. From: Chissano praises Mozambican diplomacy / AIM / 21 June 2000

Item No. 00/06/21 - Mz
Mozambique - Regional Cooperation - Telecommunications
   A telecentre is to be set up in the western Mozambican province of Tete, to facilitate communications between the areas covered by the "Triangular Development" project, between Mozambique, Malawi and Zambia. A project mission of business people, including a representative of the Canadian government, visited Tete recently. Canada is among the potential sources of finance for the project. Among other things, the project aims to promote trade and investment between these three member countries of SADC. Tete provincial governor Virgilio Ferrao said that "the consensus reached by the business mission was that it is feasible to set up a telecentre in that province, taking into account that it will be a means to facilitate communication between businesspeople, students, and farmers". Similar telecentres have already been set up elsewhere in Mozambique, and in some regions of Malawi and Zambia. From: Telecentre to serve "Triangular Development" / AIM / 21 June 2000

Item No. 00/06/21 - Mz
Mozambique - Angola - Press Freedom
   A leading Angolan opposition politician has claimed there is no such thing as an independent press in Angola, and that all the media in the country serve one or other faction of the ruling MPLA. Eugenio Manuvakola, the secretary-general of UNITA-Renovada, which is the part of UNITA that split away from rebel leader Jonas Savimbi, and claims to be "the real UNITA", is attending a conference on Angola in Maputo. Speaking at the conference, he defended Unita-Renovada's failure to take a stand on the repeated gross violations of press freedom committed by the Angolan authorities, on the grounds that all Angolan journalists "serve the interests of the various wings of the MPLA". Manuvakola said that, from what he had observed in his stay in Maputo, the Mozambican press is much freer than its Angolan counterpart. "In Mozambique, press freedom is obvious", he said. "There's an alternative press for all sensitivities". "In Angola, there's no alternative press", he declared. "What calls itself independent is just there to defend one wing of the MPLA, at the same time as it fights against the opposition". From: No independent press in Angola, claims Manuvakola / AIM / 21 June 2000

Item No. 00/06/23 - Mz
Mozambique - Regional Cooperation - Eco-systems - Forests
   Mozambique, South Africa and Swaziland signed a protocol, in the South African City of Durban, to establish a cross border conservation area, to share Eco-systems, wildlife, and forests. Ministers of the three countries signed the document during the tenth Southern African Economic Forum, as the culmination of the political position taken between these countries plus Zimbabwe that political borders should not impede the sharing of resources. Zimbabwe has not yet signed the protocol, but it is expected to do so in the near future. Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Helder Muteia signed on behalf of the Mozambican government. Muteia explained that this agreement will bring not only economic, but also ecological and social benefits, and will create more ecotourism opportunities in the four countries. He said that game will be free to wonder from one country to another, and the same will apply for tourists, who will be exempted from border procedures in this region. He noted, however, that, for the implementation of this project, Mozambique will have to train and equip its tourist operators very quickly, so as not to remain "at the back of the queue". From: Libombos conservation area established / AIM / 23 June 2000

Item No. 00/06/25 - Mz
Mozambique - Independence Day - Poverty
   The greatest challenge facing Mozambicans is the struggle against absolute poverty, President Joaquim Chissano declared in Maputo. Speaking in the capital's Independence Square, at ceremonies marking the 25th anniversary of Mozambican independence on 25 June 1975, Chissano said the battle to overcome poverty "requires from each and every one of us renewed effort, commitment and determination, and a collective belief in success". He called for a faster rhythm of growth in the countryside, while simultaneously improving basic social services such as health care, education and the supply of clean drinking water. All the major sectors of society faced severe problems. "The national business class confronts enormous difficulties to consolidate its position in the market", he said. "Young people find it increasingly difficult to obtain jobs. Training opportunities at middle and higher levels are scarce. Women still do not fully enjoy the freedom and rights which the law grants them". In the field of health care, Chissano urged that special attention be paid to AIDS "which is spreading alarmingly, with a negative impact on economic development programmes. From: Chissano calls for struggle against poverty / AIM / 25 June 2000 Item No. 00/06/26 - Mz
Mozambique - International Cooperation - Conflict
   A delegation from the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), led by Mozambique's Minister in the Presidency for Parliamentary and Diplomatic Affairs, Francisco Madeira, arrived in the Comoro capital of Moroni for discussions on the economic embargo which the OAU has imposed on the separatist island of Anjouan. According to a report from the Pan-African News Agency (PANA), Madeira, who is acting as a special envoy of OAU secretary general Salim Ahmed Salim, will meet all political actors, including those who oppose the maintenance of those sanctions whose imposition took effect four months ago. Several Comoro politicians have opposed the embargo, arguing that it has a negative impact on the lives of ordinary people. Abdou Issa, the spokesman of a coalition backing the country's military ruler, Col. Asoumani Azali, said "deciding to impose an embargo without the means to enforce it is of no interest to us, particularly because Anjouan is slowly becoming the hub of some Mafia groups." The OAU embargo was imposed on Anjouan in March to compel the island's secessionist leaders to sign the Antananarivo agreement, which contains a new institutional framework for "Comorian Union". Anjouan's refusal to sign the agreement prompted the OAU to threaten that it would use "all available means" to force compliance. However, the separatists have still refused to sign the document. From: Madeira leads OAU delegation to Moroni / AIM / 26 June 2000

Item No. 00/06/27 - Mz
Mozambique - International Aid - Health
   About 38 million US dollars of funding from the European Union has been earmarked for the expansion of the health network in the central Mozambican province of Zambezia, according to the provincial governor, Orlando Candua. He said that the government has already launched an international tender to select a consultant who will advise on the work, which will include the building of an unspecified number of new health units, and the rehabilitation and refurbishment of about 30 existing ones. "The project is integrated within the government's efforts to guarantee better health care for the population", said Candua. One aim of the authorities is to extend the health network to the smaller units in the Mozambican administrative system -localities and administrative posts. Currently, most of the health units are to be found in the district capitals, many of which have the basic conditions to guarantee reasonable medical care to the population - at least each hospital has a doctor and a medical technician. From: European Union funds health extension / AIM / 27 June 2000

Item No. 00/06/29 - Mz
Mozambique - International Aid - Floods
   The outgoing Chinese ambassador to Mozambique, Shao Guan Fu, said in Maputo that his country is striving to accelerate the provision of airlifts of goods to areas of Mozambique that are still isolated because of the February floods. Speaking during his farewell meeting with Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano, Shao praised the level of cooperation between the two countries, and noted that China's assistance to the flood victims has reached about 370,000 US dollars in the last two to three months, which includes clothes, medicines for malaria and cholera, and other items. Chissano recalled that cooperation between Mozambique and China includes the construction of a new building for the Mozambican parliament, and agreements to build offices for the country's Foreign Ministry and a residential area for the military. Shao said that the parliament building has been completed and delivered, and blueprints for the Foreign Ministry's new offices have also been completed and handed to the Mozambican authorities for approval. As for the building of the military neighbourhood, this is scheduled to start by 20 July. From: China to continue support for flood victims / AIM / 29 June 2000