Good afternoon. Frelimo’s decision to dissolve its structures in Gaza is an unusual intervention in an unusually important province.
The party has removed structures from the cell level up to the provincial leadership, including the first secretary and district bodies. It has promised reorganisation and new internal elections. It has not clearly explained why such a broad purge was necessary.
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That leaves space for speculation. The most notable recent stories about Frelimo in Gaza have concerned alleged corruption in the distribution of flood relief goods. It is not clear that those allegations explain the Political Commission’s decision. But they form part of the recent political background in a province where Frelimo’s central leadership seems determined to impose order.
Gaza is too important for Frelimo to allow local failures to fester. It is one of the party’s great electoral reservoirs: a province where Frelimo receives genuine support, and where it has also been able to conjure up more votes than there are voters.. If local corruption, factional disputes or arrogance begin to alienate voters there, or even worse, the party’s grass roots, the damage would go beyond one province.
