By Zenaida Machado
MAPUTO, Nov 11 2009 (IPS)

The incumbent, President Armando Guebuza, has won the Mozambican 2009 elections in a landslide, obtaining three quarters of the votes, according to official results.

Leopoldo da Costa, the chairman of Mozambique’s National Elections Commission (CNE), announced that Frelimo’s Guebuza has been re-elected for second five-year term, winning 75.4 percent of the votes.

Long time opposition leader Renamo’s Afonso Dhlakama won 16.5 percent and 8.64 percent of votes went to Daviz Simango, leader of the newly formed Mozambique Democratic Movement (MDM).

Before the election, the ruling Frelimo party held 160 seats and the main opposition Renamo had 90. Frelimo has been in power for almost 34 years, since the country’s independence from Portugal in 1975.

Frelimo won the 2009 elections by a landslide, obtaining 191 of the 250 parliamentary seats. Renamo, won 51 seats and MDM, formed after a split from Renamo, won eight.

The results give Frelimo an important two-thirds majority in parliament. This gives Guebuza the option of changing the constitution – which presently allows a president only two terms in office – to allow him to run for a third term.

However, Frelimo’s senior members have made it clear that Guebuza will not contest the 2014 presidential elections.

“The majority in parliament will give us more freedom to choose what is best for Mozambican people. Frelimo has always worked on benefit of people. And that is what we will continue to do in the next mandate,” explained Veronica Macamo, the Frelimo election officer.

However, opposition parties Renamo and MDM have declared the Oct. 28 election fraudulent, and have accused Frelimo of ballot stuffing. The MDM presented to the media and election observers a list of irregularities it noted during the elections.

The MDM claimed that some staff at several polling stations committed electoral crimes. The party showed a video recorded on a cell phone showing election staff apparently tampering with ballots at a polling station in Beira.

Despite these claims, the CNE says no official complaints of irregularities were submitted to them.

“Political parties have two days after the voting day to present complaints or proof of irregularities. We did not receive any complaints during this period,” said Da Costa.

More than 1,000 national and international observers from the Africa Union, European Union, Southern African Development Community and the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries declared the fourth Mozambican elections free and fair.

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By Zenaida Machado
MAPUTO, Oct 29 2009 (IPS)

Mozambique’s incumbent president looks set to serve a second term of office as partial results of the country’s presidential, parliamentary and provincial elections are announced.

Young Mozambicans turned out in their numbers to vote. Credit:

The results, announced by the state-owned broadcaster Radio Mozambique, shows Guebuza ahead in the voting having won more than 70 percent of the votes counted thus far.

The two opposition candidates: Daviz Simango, from the Mozambique Democratic Movement (MDM); and Renamo head Afonso Dhlakama, are in a tight race for second place.

Mozambique's National Elections Commission (CNE) said the election went well. "Except (for) some small incidents, everything has been moving normally and well. The turnout looks good all over the country," said CNE chairperson, Leopoldo da Costa.

This year turnout is expected to be below 45 percent. In the 2004 elections less than 35 of voters cast their vote.

A massive youth turnout has also been reported in the elections.

The polls opened at 7 am on Oct. 28 with some people lining up in long queues even hours before the voting process started.

In the capital city of Maputo lines at the voting stations, mostly located in primary schools, reached up to 150 metres. Some voters queued for up to five hours before they got to the front of the line and were let into the polling station to make their mark. There were 12,600 polling stations in the country.

"Some people came as early as 5 am to mark their place in the queues with stones and leaf bunches," said a staffer of a polling station in Maputo who preferred anonymity because he said he did not have permission to talk to the press. Those who marked their places sat around waiting for the polling stations to open, instead of standing in the queue. It is common in Mozambique for people to mark their places in this way in queues.

To ensure all registered voters had the chance to vote, STAE (Electoral Administration Technical Secretariat) increased the number of election staff per station from five to seven. These staffers also had the task of organising the queues and directing people to the voting room.

The excitement to vote was clear to see, especially amongst youth, a contrast to the 2004 elections. There were just over 9,8 million voters registered and eligible to vote for the election on Oct. 28. Voter turnout may have been helped by the fact that the Labour Ministry declared the day a public holiday, to give all workers the chance to vote.

"I went around to the bars and clubs in Maputo and surrounding, and amazingly most of the young people I found had already voted," said Noa Inacio, a journalist who is observing the event.

"The ones who had not yet being in the polling station promised to do so before the closing." he added.

A young couple on their 20s in one of the polling stations said they could not miss the opportunity to vote for the first time in a presidential election.

"I am very excited. This is my first time to vote for a president," explained Tatiana Batista as she held her boyfriend's hand. "I wouldn’t miss the opportunity to choose the person who is going to lead our future," she added.

"I had to come to vote and choose our leader for the next five years," Batista’s boyfriend explained. "I don’t want anyone to choose my fish and vegetables."

He was referring to an advertising campaign run by STAE. In order to a have a massive participation of voters, STAE broadcast a radio and TV advertisement spot which shows a couple in a restaurant choosing their meal. The wife forces her husband to eat fish and vegetables, something he dislikes, because he had not decided on his order by the time the waiter came to take it.

During the 45-day election campaign, which ended Oct. 25, the STAE advert became very popular among young Mozambicans who had been consistently asked by all candidates to participate in the electoral process.

International observers were also astonished by the number of people who turned out to cast their votes in the fourth democratic elections to be held in Mozambique.

"I am surprised by the number of people who came early in the morning vote. It shows how Mozambicans are so much involved in process," said the head of the European Union Observers Team, Fiona Hall.

Hall also said that she was pleased by the civic responsibility and discipline Mozambicans showed during the voting process. "I was amazed to see that senior people and pregnant woman are given priority when standing in the lines."

Nearly 30 parties registered for the parliamentary poll, but the CNE allowed candidates from only 19 to run. The other parties were excluded because they did not have their electoral papers in order. Only the ruling Frelimo and the main opposition party Renamo are contesting the 250 parliamentary seats in every constituency.

The exclusion of the other political parties brought a serial of controversial debates. Most of these were around the new political party, MDM led by the mayor of the second-largest Mozambican city of Beira and a former member of Renamo.

MDM, which was formed at the beginning of this year after most of his members split from the former rebel group Renamo, has been excluded from fielding candidates in nine of the 13 parliamentary regions. They were excluded for not having their electoral papers in order but have laid a complaint with the office of the Attorney-General.

In the interest of "transparency and justice" the CNE allowed party delegates and national and international observers to watch the counting of votes.

The elections were monitored by more than 1,000 national and international observers including those from the: Africa Union; European Union; Southern African Development Community and the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries.

The official results will be announced in two weeks.

*Updates with preliminary results of the elections and adds comment from the National Elections Commission.

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By Zenaida Machado
MAPUTO, Oct 23 2009 (IPS)

Less than 100 kilometres from the second-largest dam in Africa, women walk with their babies strapped on their back, water pails balanced on their heads.

They walk slowly, their bodies tired. And as night falls, and darkness hits the red sand of the dirt road, they disappear into the dark

"I have been using this way since I got married and came to live here, 10 years ago. Sometimes I have to queue for long hours until I find water. Every two days, I leave home at four o’clock in the morning and I come back to rest when the sun goes down," explains Benedita Cadeado, 32, mother of three children.

Cadeado walks about 20 km from her small village in the surroundings of Songo to reach the nearest place with public tap water. And then she walks back.

"I always come to carry water with three containers of 20 litres – enough to supply my family needs for two days. That forces me to go down and up the mountain three times a day. I am already used (to it). We move in groups so that the road distance to my village seems shorter," she added.

Along the very same road, emerging from the green forest enveloping the Mozambican mountains crossed by the Zambezi River, lies the majestic Cahora Bassa. It is Africa’s second-largest water and electricity infrastructure.

The hydroelectric dam situated in the district of Cahora Bassa, in the central province of Tete, is based in the village of Songo.

Here there are houses with swimming pools and well-watered gardens. Restaurants and petrol garages are situated along asphalted roads. These were built to provide comfort to the local residents – most of whom work at the dam.

The electricity from Cahora Bassa does not cover the entire plateau of Songo village, or even the entire district. And it has yet to reach all the districts of the Tete province.

"We were told that the dam produces energy… I thought that big house (dam) could only keep water. Last year, they told us that Cahora Bassa doesn’t belong anymore to (the) Portuguese and now belongs to us… and that because of that, we would finally have electricity power at home… I am still waiting," explains Cadeado.

In November 2007, Mozambique took complete control of the Cahora Bassa dam from Portugal ending, decades of a negotiation process between the two countries.

After Mozambique’s independence in 1975, the Portuguese handed political power over to Mozambique but retained an 82 percent stake in the dam.

However, two years after the Cahora Bassa reverted to Mozambique, people in south Songo village still do not have electricity. Instead they rely on solar panels, candles or oil lamps.

They are forced to watch as neighbouring South Africa buys what should be their electricity. The electricity is transferred across more than 1,000 kilometres to South Africa, while less than 100 kilometres away from the dam people do not have electricity.

Tap water from the dam only covers a very small area around the barrage. So the majority of Songo population uses the river flow as a source of drinking and washing water.

Here, like in most of the Tete districts around the Zambezi River, the population depend on the fishing and agriculture. Both of these means of survival are affected when the Zambezi floods annually.

Moving out of Songo, about 60 kilometres downstream of the river, the village of Changara will witness the 2011 the construction of another major water and power infrastructure, the Mphanda Nkuwa dam.

The Mphanda Nkuwa dam is expected to occupy an area of 100 square metres, and is believed to be a solution for the current power shortages in part of the southern African region.

"We (the region) have been facing power cut-offs. A dam like Mpanda Nkuwa in Mozambique will help to improve the electricity distribution in the region," says Phera Ramoeli from the SADC Water Secretariat.

The new dam will produce 1,350 megawatts power. Mozambique consumes about 900 megawatts – enough to light about 400,000 homes. The Cahora Bassa dam, also on the Zambezi River, already produces more than 2,000 megawatts of electricity, which is mostly supplied to Eskom in South Africa.

Ramoeli said that the Mphanda Nkuwa dam will help prevent floods and will support development in areas surrounding the Zambezi River.

"You can see how much water flows in the Victory falls. We need to find ways of using that water in benefit of local people. That water, if well managed, can boost the development of people living on the Zambezi area," Ramoeli explained.

However, Mozambican environmental activists defend against the construction of the dam saying it will only worsen the living conditions of the population of Changara and other villages across the Zambezi.

"The construction of the Mpanda Nkuwa dam will force the resettlement of more than 1,400 small farmers who were told very little about their future situation," says the Justiça Ambiental (Environmental Justice), an environmental group.

The group advocates that Mozambique already has enough dams which, if well managed, can bring considerable benefits to the population who, according to them, have so far received very little from the Cahora Bassa dam.

"The construction will cause fluctuations in the level of the Zambezi River, which is already affected by Cahora Bassa Dam, damaging the fishing activity, river traffic and the agriculture on the Zambezi basin, making population more vulnerable to disasters such as drought, floods and hunger," defends Justiça Ambiental.

The environmental group also says that the local community should be informed about the risks of having a dam constructed in an earthquake area. Mphanda Nkuwa dam will be built in central Mozambique, near Machaze district in Manica province. This was the epicentre of the 7.5 on the Richter scale earthquake in 2006.

"No development can be made without negative impacts," explained Ramoeli from the SADC Water Secretariat whose mandate is to guarantee a fair distribution of water resources around the southern African region.

"We (SADC) are current carrying projects, with our engineers on how to minimise negative impacts to local environment. These projects consider all groups politics, science, society…We have to consider all the aspects involving environment and development," the SADC expert added.

The construction of the Mpanda Nkuwa dam has been made one of the priorities of the Mozambican government during.

In a report from December 2008, the Mozambique ministry of energy describes the dam as ‘one of the most important projects to generate and supply electricity power to southern African region’.

The minister of energy, Salvador Namburete, has emphasised government’s commitment to the construction of the dam. He has also stressed that ‘the project will follow the recommendations of the environmental studies’.

The results of the preliminary environmental study for the construction of the Mpanda Nkuwa dam were delivered to the government in early September.

The document, not yet made public, should indicate the existence or not of barriers to the implementation of the project, and present recommendations on environmental and engineering aspects to be considered during the construction process that is expected to be finished by 2015.

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By Zenaida Machado
MAPUTO, Oct 16 2009 (IPS)

Antonio Machava is standing by the gate of his farm listening to election campaigners. The group of young people says their party will fight for a law to protect small farmers and create conditions for them to prosper.

The annual Stand Up, Take Action Campaign will seek commitment to support small farmers from Mozambican political campaigners. Credit: Zahira Kharsany/IPS

This is the second year Machava's mango harvest has failed. A plague of insects and a lack of water and fertilisers have blighted his fruit crop, which used to be the main source of income for his family.

"It's a disaster! I have given up! Last year some of my trees still grew some fruit. But the mangoes were small and tasteless and people asked me what happened with the good mangoes I used to grow in the past."

Machava is one of millions of Mozambicans who farm to feed themselves and their families, and sell any surplus in local markets. About 80 percent of the population in Mozambique, a country with enormous potential for agricultural growth, live off the land in this way, most of them on family farms.

This type of farming is characterised by reliance on family labour and low levels of mechanisation. Support like tractors, fertiliser or pesticides is generally not available.

Forty-seven year old Machava, grows vegetables, oranges and mangoes, as well as raises chickens and ducks for sale in local markets and to neighbours and friends.

The money he gets from these activities on his one-hectare plot has been enough able to sustain a family of six. However, he says, his quality of life has gone down in the past two years because he is no longer selling mangoes.

"November and December is the time for mangoes in Mozambique. I used to make a lot of money at the end of the year. That money would help me buy school materials and pay school fees for my kids at the beginning of the following year." Machava complains. "Now I don’t know what to do."

Sector targeted for support

The Mozambican government has identified small-scale agriculture production as the main tool to fight poverty in the country.

The Ministry of Planning and Development claims that agricultural developments have played a very important role in reducing poverty over the past four years in Mozambique. According to official reports, the number of people living in hunger has fallen from about a million in 2004 to 120,000 in 2009.

The government hopes to increase by production of cereals by 17 percent this year, thanks to its Food Production Action Plan.

"Our green revolution has been very successful so far," explains Edmundo Galiza Matos Jr, a parliamentary candidate for the ruling Frelimo (Mozambican Liberation Front).

"Our next step is to ensure that farmers have access to mechanised means of production. We want small farmers to be able to use the new technologies in agriculture."

Galiza Matos stressed the importance of the Local Initiative Investment Budget, a government programme under which about 7 million meticals – 260,000 U.S. dollars – is transferred annually to each district to fund projects to increase food production and jobs.

True impact questioned

But Mozambican civil society has a different perspective on progress made by government on poverty and hunger reduction.

"We do our own reports on poverty reduction. It is what we call a 'shadow report', in which we collect perceptions and oral testimonies from ordinary citizens. Unlike government reports which rely on statistics and are mere quantitative, our reports are qualitative," says Erasmo Mabunda from Organic Agriculture, Biodiversity and Sustainable Development, an NGO advocating the progress on millennium development goals in Mozambique.

Official reports suggest that Mozambique has achieved significant goals on poverty reduction, with the number living in absolute poverty dropping from 54 percent in 2003 to 45 percent by 2009.

"But ordinary people don’t see those numbers represented in their life," argues Mabunda. "Prices are getting higher and higher. The basic food basquet is each day, more expensive and less satisfying. And if you ask people if they are less poor… the answer will be 'no.'"

Farmers like Antonio Machava have not been able to benefit from the government’s Local Initiative Investment Budget.

"I tried to apply for the fund but unfortunately there was very little information at my district administration. I wanted the money to buy fertilisers but the process seemed too complicated and I gave it up… I ended up using my own savings. Maybe I can apply again next year," Machava explained.

Farmers and others interested in receiving funds from the Local Initiative Investment Budget submit a business plan that spelling out how they'll use the money – and pay it back. District administrators decide who is awarded funds. According to the Mozambican government, these local funds have supported 26,000 projects in 128 districts, mostly in agriculture and small-scale industry.

But the main opposition party in Mozambique accuses the government of not having done enough for small farmers and local production.

"Mozambique is a rich country with lots of water resources. The problem is that we don’t have good agriculture policies which stimulates people to produce more in order to fight against poverty. This country is not poor. It is impoverished," argues Ivone Soares, a candidate for the opposition RENAMO party.

"We need an agriculture policy that meets the needs of Mozambican farmers… farmers need to find ways of selling their products in the markets… They also need incentives and tax exemptions when purchasing productions tools like fuel, tractors and seeds," Soares added.

This year's edition of the Stand Up, Take Action campaign in support of achieving millennium development goals – which will run from Oct. 16-18 worldwide – will target candidates in Mozambique's elections, to be held on Oct. 28.

Mabunda believes this is the perfect time for the annual event. "During election campaign, politicians are more likely to listen to our message. And this year, our message is that we all can make a change on the fight against poverty," explained the activist.

Campaigners expect at least fifteen thousand people to participate by attending concerts, workshops and meetings with politicians, religious and lay people – and practical training for small farmers like Antonio Machava.

"We use this opportunity to show small famers how they can be involved in the process of fighting poverty and hunger. We teach them easy methods to enrich the soil, and how to carry over the surplus from one harvest to a later moments of crisis or lower productivity," explains Mabunda.

"If each one of us in our own vegetable gardens, plants a tree or some vegetables, we will all be contributing to reduce hunger. Small individual actions can make a big difference in the fight against poverty," he added.

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