Voters urged to return Frelimo to power in Pemba – AIM report

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Voters urged to return Frelimo to power in Pemba – AIM report

8:24 CAT | 26 Sep 2018

Municipal Council of Pemba, capital of Cabo Delgado province. File photo: APIE

Mozambique’s ruling Frelimo Party on Tuesday urged voters in Pemba, capital of the northern province of Cabo Delgado, to return Frelimo to power in the municipality in the local elections scheduled for 10 October.

Opening the party’s campaign in Pemba, Frelimo Political Commission member Filipe Paunde claimed that only Frelimo can guarantee continued improvement in the living conditions of the city’s population.

He said Frelimo has kept the promises made in its manifesto for the last municipal elections in 2013.

“Many schools, with their respective desks, have been built or rehabilitated”, he said. “Electricity and water supply have been extended into more of the city’s neighbourhoods. We have built and rehabilitated access roads”.

Despite these achievements, Paunde recognised that there is still a long way to go to meet the aspirations of Pemba citizens. “We want to do more”, he said. “We want more water, more electricity, more schools, more health units, but for this to happen, you should vote for Frelimo”.

He noted that the first day of the election campaign coincided with the 54th anniversary of the start of the war to liberate Mozambique from Portuguese colonial rule.He urged Frelimo members to draw inspiration from victory in the independence war to ensure victory in the elections, and stressed that national unity had always been the key to victory.

Pemba has always been a Frelimo stronghold – the current mayor, Tagir Carimo, won with 75 per cent of the vote in 2013. The coordinator of the campaign of the main opposition party, the former rebel movement Renamo, Luciano Jose, while not exactly predicting victory, told AIM the conditions exist for a peaceful election campaign.

Renamo held a march through the Pemba streets on Tuesday, followed by a rally, at which it presented its election manifesto. Jose admitted that the march had set off late, but claimed this had not compromised the campaign programme.

“The rally was short, but it exceeded our expectations”, he said. “We feel the campaign will take place without problems. We have managed to transmit our message and our programme of government to our potential voters”.

Source: AIM