Good afternoon. An interview with Luís Giquira, president of the municipal council (or more simply “mayor”) of the city of Nampula in today’s edition of newspaper Savana throws an interesting spotlight on the management of self-governing cities in Mozambique, but not a surprising one. Giquira took over as mayor in February 2024 from Paulo Vahanle of opposition party Renamo. The city that he took over was, he says, “technically bankrupt”. It had been blacklisted by the bank FNB over an unpaid debt of MZN26m ($407,000), it was employing over 1,000 workers on irregular arrangements, and social security contributions deducted from pay had been diverted, according to Giquira.
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The problems he describes can be found in many cities across the country. Mozambique is not alone in that its local government is plagued by corruption and weak financial management, although there are some factors specific to this country that make things worse. The lack of proper jobs combined with the patronage culture in the political parties means that mayors are always under pressure from their parties to hand out jobs to party members. This may help to explain all the people in Nampula who Giquira says had been unofficially placed on the payroll, and who have now been dismissed.
