Ricardo Tomas to stand for mayor of Tete city

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Ricardo Tomas to stand for mayor of Tete city

8:28 CAT | 30 Jul 2018

Photo: O País

Mozambique’s largest opposition party Renamo on Saturday elected Ricardo Tomas as its candidate for mayor in Tete City in the municipal elections on 10 October.

Technically, Tomas will head Renamo’s list of candidates in Tete’s municipal assembly elections. Under the constitutional amendments passed recently by the country’s parliament, the Assembly of the Republic, the head of the list of whichever party or group wins most votes becomes mayor.

This is a blow to the opposition Mozambique Democratic Movement (MDM). Not only was Tomas an MDM deputy in the country’s parliament, the Assembly of the Republic, but in June the party’s Political Commission chose him to stand as its mayoral candidate in Tete.

Tomas straightaway rejected the candidature on the grounds of a “lack of internal cohesion” and the existence of “two wings” in the Tete MDM delegation that were refusing to work together. Now he has completely abandoned the party and joined Renamo.

Announcing his candidature in Tete, Renamo added that he had received 14 votes, whilst Hernane da Silva received 12, Jorge Eduardo six, and David Malanhane four votes.

The announcement was made by the head of the Renamo brigade to the centre of the country, Maria Enoque. She told those present “we must be united to fulfil our goal of winning in Tete City. This responsibility is on each one of us. We must decide to govern this city”.

Enoque stressed that winning the Tete City municipal elections is the number one priority for the party in the province. She called on everyone to work hard had to create the conditions for victory as 10 October is just around the corner.

Ricardo Tomas told journalists that his priorities would be to improve the electricity and water supply. He said he didn’t understand why Tete had problems with its water provision when the Zambezi River flows through the city. Nor could he understand why there are electricity shortages when so much is generated in the province. He stated, “there are many problems that should be resolved in favour of the residents. This is our bid for winning October’s elections”.

Ricardo Tomas was the MDM mayoral candidate in the 2013 municipal elections, coming second to Frelimo’s Celestino Checanhanza. Renamo boycotted the elections.

Renamo is due to announce shortly its mayoral candidates for Tete’s municipalities of Moatize, Ulongue, and Nhamayabwe.

On Friday, Renamo announced that its candidate for the southern city of Matola is Antonio Muchanga, who represents the party in the Assembly of the Republic. Between 2009 and 2014 he was a member of the Council of State, which is a body that advises the President of the Republic.

In April, he was criticised by the Higher Mass Media Council (CSCS), the watchdog on press freedom established under the Mozambican Constitution, for issuing public threats of physical violence against journalist Marcelo Mosse.

During a television debate, Muchanga claimed that Mosse had libelled him, and said that, if he got his hands on the journalist, he would “tie him up with wire”.

The MDM has suffered a series of defections of senior members in recent weeks. The rapporteur of its parliamentary group, Venancio Mondlane, has joined Renamo, and its Mayor of Quelimane, Manuel de Araujo, has also quit the party. Both are expected to stand for Renamo in the forthcoming elections.

Source: AIM