More on Nampula interim mayor arrested for firearms offence – AIM

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More on Nampula interim mayor arrested for firearms offence – AIM

7:11 CAT | 09 Nov 2017

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The Mozambican police have arrested the interim mayor of the northern city of Nampula, Manuel Tocova, for the illegal possession of a firearm, according to the independent daily “O Pais”.

Tocova was detained shortly after giving a statement to the Criminal Investigation Service (SERNIC).

The paper’s source, who was not named, said that the gun came into Tocova’s possession in 2015 when he illegally hired it from a former parliamentary deputy “from another political party”. He promised to pay 3,000 meticais (about 50 US dollars) a month for the gun.

But Tocova stopped paying, and the former deputy decided to denounce him to the police. When Tocova returned to Nampula, after spending several days in his home district of Monapo, the police called him in to make a statement.

Initially he denied the accusation, but eventually he admitted that he was in illegal possession of a gun. The police have also detained the former deputy.

Tocova is a member of the opposition Mozambique Democratic Movement (MDM). But he is also a demobilised soldier who fought for the rebel movement Renamo during the war of destabilisation. He only switched his loyalties from Renamo to the MDM on the eve of the 2013 municipal elections. This history makes it almost certain that the former deputy who hired the gun out to Tocova was from Renamo.

Meanwhile Tocova’s supporters are fighting to maintain control of Nampula Municipal Council, despite court rulings that their appointment was illegal. When Tocova became interim mayor, following the assassination on 4 October of Mayor Mahamudo Amurane, he threw Amurane’s collaborators off the Municipal Council, and appointed ten councillors and six heads of administrative posts loyal to him.

The sackings and appointments were clearly illegal because the municipal legislation states that, in the period between the death or resignation of a mayor and the ensuing by-election, the interim mayor can only undertake routine tasks of day-to-day management. Such tasks do not include the wholesale removal of city councillors.

The Nampula Administrative Tribunal on Wednesday gave a second ruling on the matter, which reinforced the first one last week, rejected by Tocova’s faction because it did not take the form of a full “acordao” (sentence). This time the sentence came from the collective of all the judges of the Nampula Tribunal, and once more it rejected Tocova’s sackings and appointments as null and void.

The Council spokesperson, Faizal Adamugy, told reporters on Wednesday that Amurane’s team would be back at their posts on Thursday, and all would return to normal.

He showed the journalists the Tribunal’s ruling and declared “all the councillors who were dismissed shall resume their positions, and we are asking the police to intervene to recover the municipal assets, vehicles and office keys so that they can be returned to the legitimate office holders”.

He pledged that Amurane’s team will continue working with Tocova (apparently unaware of the interim mayor’s problems with the police).

Despite Adamugy’s optimism, normality did not return to Nampula Council on Thursday. Instead, Tocova’s appointees declared that the Administrative Council’s ruling was not definitive since they intended to appeal against it.

Tempers frayed, and the Amurane and Tocova councillors screamed at each other in front of television cameras, coming close to fist fights. Despite the Tribunal’s ruling, Tocova’s team had no intention of surrendering the offices, or the keys to municipal vehicles.

One of Tocova’s men, Adelino Marques, told reporters that he is the legitimate councillor for institutional matters, and that it was “illegal” for the former councillors to return to their jobs, while an appeal against the Tribunal ruling was under way.

He said that Tocova himself would lodge the appeal, but admitted that he had been unable to speak to Tocova. No doubt that was because Tocova was under arrest. If he is kept in detention for much longer, he will be unable to lodge an appeal within the legal time limit.

Source: AIM