VZCZCXRO4660
PP RUEHDU RUEHJO RUEHMR
DE RUEHTO #0415/01 0961539
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 061539Z APR 06
FM AMEMBASSY MAPUTO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5236
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHLMC/MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORP WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MAPUTO 000415 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
AF/S - HTREGER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR KDEM ECON EAGR MZ
SUBJECT: MOZAMBIQUE - PRESIDENT GUEBUZA'S TWO-WEEK VISIT TO 
THE SOUTHERN BACKCOUNTRY 
 
 
MAPUTO 00000415  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. (U) Summary:  President Guebuza recently completed a 
two-week trip to rural districts in southern Mozambique. 
Hopping from point to point by helicopter, he addressed 
rallies and listened to local concerns in some of 
Mozambique's most isolated communities.  His message -- 
"together we can win the fight against poverty."  At each 
stop he spoke of a new GRM program to channel to each 
district every year seven billion meticais (approximately USD 
250,000) to fund local initiatives.  Fighting rural poverty 
was the central plank of Guebuza's 2004 election campaign; no 
doubt Guebuza sees the trip as delivering on this pledge. 
Judging from the enthusiastic throngs at each stop, including 
some who traveled considerable distances to meet him, so do 
many rural residents.  The visit also gave Guebuza a chance 
to showcase to provincial voters the FRELIMO government's 
attentiveness to their concerns in advance of the country's 
first-ever provincial level elections next year.  Summary. 
 
¶2. (U) President Guebuza, with several ministers and the 
press in tow, visited by helicopter the provincial capitals 
and a dozen rural districts in the four southern provinces of 
Gaza, Inhambane, Manica and Sofala over the period March 
16-31.  Some of the districts in southern Manica provinces -- 
where the epicenter of the February 23 earthquake was -- and 
western Inhambane are among the most isolated in the country. 
 There he inspected earthquake damage and promised more 
government support.  Elsewhere he inaugurated schools, 
visited clinics, reviewed irrigation schemes, looked over 
agricultural projects, strolled through local markets and saw 
firsthand the inadequate to non-existent road, electricity, 
water and telecommunications infrastructure.  At every stop 
he was met by welcoming crowds (with dancers in some 
instances) whom he addressed in "open government" fashion, 
inviting members of the audience on to the podium for their 
questions. 
 
---------------- 
Fighting Poverty 
---------------- 
 
¶3. (U) His main message to the people was "together we can 
win the fight against poverty."  He spoke of government 
programs underway to meet peoples' needs and boost living 
standards -- a new credit line for some rural communities, 
the expansion of the national electricity grid, more funding 
for roads, schools and water, and relief supplies for 
earthquake, flooding and drought victims.  He gave more 
emphasis, however, to urging his audience to be more 
resourceful, and to not expect that the government alone 
would bring progress.  Mozambique had extensive untapped 
natural resources, he told them, and the people only had to 
look around themselves, in some instances, to supply their 
needs.  Moreover the central government often did not know 
the best answer, meaning local experience and expertise 
should be the guide.  This shift in thinking was borne out at 
some of the stops.  In Sofala, the governor demonstrated how 
local sources had financed projects to use annual floods for 
small-scale reservoirs and irrigation systems.  In Panda, 
Inhambane province, Guebuza witnessed how three local 
investors had started a livestock business to supply milk and 
meat, toured two projects involving small-scale foot pumps to 
irrigate fields and learned of new agricultural associations. 
 (Note: In many stops he reminded the crowds of the enormous 
challenge posed by AIDS, calling on them to act responsibly 
and mentioning limited government assistance.  But his focus 
at meetings during the trip, essentially, was on combating 
poverty.  End note.) 
 
---------------------------- 
Funding District Governments 
---------------------------- 
 
¶4. (U) Since taking office a year ago, Guebuza has emphasized 
the importance of district governments.  To help district 
authorities to provide more leadership in local development, 
the GRM will sweeten the pot.  During his trip Guebuza 
announced that the GRM will allocate, each year, seven 
billion meticais (approximately USD 250,000) to each of 
Mozambique's 128 districts to fund local initiatives.  (Note: 
 This works out to about USD 32 million.  End note.)  Also, 
in keeping with guidelines laid out by the GRM last November, 
each district now has "consultative councils" (composed of 
traditional leaders, civil society representatives and local 
officials) as part of the district administration.  Guebuza 
told his audience that these councils are designed to reflect 
 
MAPUTO 00000415  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
local input, giving the populace more of a say.  Moreover, in 
so far as they also will help oversee proper use of funding, 
they will, according to Guebuza, serve as a check on 
corruption.  At all of his district-level stops he made a 
point of meeting with newly established consultative councils. 
 
¶5. (U) Guebuza invited his listeners to voice their concerns, 
saying that he had come to listen.  Many complained about the 
effects of prolonged drought, others about localized heavy 
rains or flooding that had washed away roads and cut them 
off.  At one stop he heard complaints of low cotton prices, 
at another concern that traditional fruit trees had been cut 
down to grow tobacco.  Some mentioned corrupt local officials 
and frustration over bureaucratic delays.  One very common 
issue was the hardship caused by higher fuel costs, which 
affected everything from transport to pumping water to power 
generation. 
 
------- 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) Guebuza made eradicating rural poverty the central 
plank of his 2004 "electoral manifesto," and doubtless sees 
this trip as a step forward in delivering on this commitment. 
 One of Guebuza's stops was at Chibabava, the district where 
Afonso Dhlakama, the leader of the main opposition party, 
RENAMO, was born, and another at Beira, Mozambique's second 
largest city, which is run by RENAMO.  By visiting 
traditional RENAMO strongholds and promising some help, 
Guebuza has done a bit of politicking.  He probably hopes to 
exploit the initiative to boost district authority, an 
initiative donors hope will lead to greater decentralization 
of power, for political purposes, too.  Overall, the visit 
gave Guebuza a chance to showcase to provincial voters the 
FRELIMO government's attentiveness to their concerns in 
advance of the country's first-ever provincial level 
elections next year. 
La Lime