Mozambique: New President promises broad reform of the State, with focus on citizens

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Mozambique: New President promises broad reform of the State, with focus on citizens

2:28 CAT | 15 Jan 2025

Mozambique's new President Daniel Chapo (C-R) flanked by his predecessor Filipe Niusy (C-L) during his inauguration ceremony as Mozambique's fifth president at Independence Square in Maputo, Mozambique, 15 January 2025.. [Photo: Luisa Nhantumbo/Lusa]

New President of Mozambique, Daniel Chapo, promised today to launch a broad reform of the state to reduce the number of ministries, create new entities, promote the digitalization of public services and combat corruption.

“Corruption is a disease that has corroded our people, with ghost public servants, cartels that enrich themselves at the expense of the people, and this must end; there will be no place for those who put their interests above the interests of the Mozambican people, whether in the public or private sector,” said President Chapo in his inauguration speech today in Maputo, and in which he began by observing a minute’s silence for the victims of the catastrophes that have devastated the country.

In his speech, which lasted almost 50 minutes, Daniel Chapo reviewed various changes that he promised to implement as the country’s leader, including reducing the number of ministries, enhancing public services, transforming the education system, making civil servants more accountable, creating new entities to manage public administration and promising that, together, Mozambicans “will once again be proud to be Mozambican”.

“We will implement important changes to how the government works, putting the people at the centre of decisions,” he promised, giving the example of reducing the size of the government, “with fewer ministries and eliminating state secretariats that are equivalent to ministries”, which will allow for savings of 17 billion meticais (more than €258 million) per year, “which will be directed to where it really matters: education, health, agriculture, water, energy, roads, and improving the living conditions of the people”.

The elimination of the vice-minister and the reformulation of the positions of secretaries of state and permanent secretaries, plus the review of the role of the secretaries of state in the provinces, were other promises made by the new head of state, who also said he would review the perks of public leaders and the privatization of state’s assets program.

“These changes include freezing the acquisition of official vehicles for the state, so that we can acquire ambulances and other vehicles to serve the people, and these are concrete measures that show that the government is willing to tighten its belt and lead by example,” he stressed.

Mozambique, “cannot continue to be held hostage by corruption, cronyism, inertia, clientelism, ‘cronyism’, nepotism, ‘bootlicking’, incompetence and injustice, and vices and deviations from the good conduct that is required of public services,” Chapo stated, to widespread applause from the audience that attended his speech.

The digitalisation of public services and the creation of a Ministry of Transport and Logistics, essentially dedicated to ports and railways, as well as the creation of a Court of Auditors and intermediate courts to streamline processes, along with arbitration centres, were other measures presented by Daniel Chapo with regard to state reform.

Daniel Chapo’s electoral victory has been contested on the streets since October, with supporters of Venâncio Mondlane, who, according to the Constitutional Council, obtained only 24% of the votes, but who nevertheless continues to claim victory, demanding the “reestablishment of electoral truth”, resulting in confrontations with the police, who have opened fire in an attempt to quell the protests.

Venâncio Mondlane called for three days of strikes and demonstrations, starting on Monday, to protest the inauguration of the deputies elected to the Assembly of the Republic and the inauguration of the new President of the Republic.

Source: Lusa