VZCZCXRO2703
RR RUEHDU RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHTO #1190/01 3360932
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 010932Z DEC 08
FM AMEMBASSY MAPUTO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9656
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY
RUEHLI/AMEMBASSY LISBON 1302
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 0302
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 0167
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 MAPUTO 001190 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/30/2018 
TAGS: PREL PGOV MZ
SUBJECT: DAVIZ SIMANGO WINS BEIRA MAYOR SLOT AS AN 
INDEPENDENT 
 
REF: A. MAPUTO 1083 
     ¶B. MAPUTO 919 
     ¶C. MAPUTO 901 
     ¶D. MAPUTO 846 
     ¶E. MAPUTO 791 
     ¶F. MAPUTO 714 
 
Classified By: Classified by Charge d'Affaires Todd C. Chapman, Reasons 
 1.5(b+d) 
 
¶1. (C)  SUMMARY:  Daviz Simango, incumbent and highly popular 
Beira mayor, has won reelection, only this time as an 
independent.  Acting more as a technocrat than a politician, 
Simango has a reputation for having made the city cleaner, a 
better place in which to live, and for minimizing corruption. 
 If successful, his election may signal the emergence of a 
new generation of politicians; those who do not identify with 
either major political party.  During a recent visit to 
Beira, the Charge met with Simango and found him to be an 
excellent interlocutor on political issues with a national 
vision who, at this stage, is Mozambique's most successful 
opposition political figure. 
 
----------------------- 
DAVIZ WINS BEIRA EASILY 
----------------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU)  Provisional election results posted on November 20 
by the Election Administration Technical Secretariat (STAE) 
and reported on Radio Mozambique show Daviz Simango easily 
won reelection in Beira.  Results from 126 of 260 polling 
stations in the city show Simango with 45,487 votes leading 
FRELIMO's Lourenco Bulha by about 20,000 votes.  Independent 
newspaper O Pais declared Daviz Simango the winner with an 
unofficial 62 percent of the 103,150 votes cast in the 
mayoral race.  Large numbers of international and domestic 
observers were stationed throughout Beira observing both the 
election and vote tabulation, to ensure transparency. 
Simango drew large numbers of votes, even in the affluent 
neighborhoods of Beira which have typically voted FRELIMO in 
the past. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
MUNICIPAL ASSEMBLY RESULTS MEAN COALITION NEEDED 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶3.  (C)  Voters voted for both a mayor and, on a separate 
ballot, for a party to serve in the Municipal Assembly.  The 
results of the Assembly vote in Beira do not give any single 
party majority power, though provisional results for the 
Beira Assembly vote show a strong FRELIMO result with 41 
percent, RENAMO with 38 percent, and a small independent 
party Group for Democracy (GDB) with 15 percent of votes 
cast.  A handful of other parties received a smattering of 
votes, far fewer than the three front runners  As a result, 
no single party will have an absolute majority in the Beira 
Assembly, even after the seats are allocated through the 
D'Hondt method.  Observers believe that of the 45 Assembly 
seats in Beira, 19 will go to FRELIMO, 17 to RENAMO, 7 to 
GDB, and one each to two small parties.  While FRELIMO could 
choose to be obstructionist and stall Simango's attempts to 
pass legislation, the mayor holds a trump card with the right 
to dissolve the Assembly and call for new elections in which 
his party, should it run independently of RENAMO, would 
surely gain seats. 
 
¶4.  (C)  Most observers agree with Miguel de Brito, Country 
Director for EISA, a South Africa-based democracy NGO, who 
believes that surprisingly strong showing of GDB in the 
Assembly vote compared to the mayoral race is not due to 
fraud, but voter confusion, who thought that GDB was 
Simango's party due to its placement on the ballot.  Beira 
voters, who voted overwhelmingly for Simango, became confused 
by the Municipal Assembly ballot and erroneously voted for 
GDB, which received 38 times more votes in the Municipal 
Assembly vote than did their candidate in the mayoral 
election. 
 
-------------------------- 
THE PUBLIC SUPPORTS HIM... 
-------------------------- 
 
¶5.  (SBU)  Public support for the mayor is evident throughout 
the city.  Waiters in a local restaurant jostle for the honor 
of serving the Mayor, local journalists talk with pleasure of 
 
MAPUTO 00001190  002 OF 003 
 
 
road repairs which save wear and tear on vehicles, and long 
time residents speak happily of regular garbage pickup and a 
clean, safe central plaza, all of which are attributed 
directly to Simango.  His name appears in graffiti on walls, 
home made signs, and even on a child's toy in the former 
RENAMO stronghold. 
 
------------------------------- 
...BECAUSE HE FIGHTS CORRUPTION 
------------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (SBU)  Simango is described as more of a technocrat than 
a politician.  With the same budget as previous mayors, he 
took Beira from a town of dilapidated buildings, a broken 
sewage system, potholed roads and mountains of uncollected 
garbage, to a safer, cleaner, functioning city.  He did so by 
minimizing corruption.  Simango broke with precedent and 
awarded business and construction licenses to competent 
contractors, rather than party faithful, generating 
significant goodwill and increasing tax revenues. 
 
----------------------------------- 
POLITICAL PEDIGREE REGAINING LUSTER 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶7.  (SBU)  Urias Simango, the mayor's father, was a key 
figure in Mozambique's war of independence but was disgraced 
when jealous political enemies accused him of being a 
traitor.  The family reputation was recently restored thanks 
to a new study of the period which successfully refutes the 
allegations and, some say, reinforced Daviz Simango's status 
as the son of one of the founding fathers of Mozambique. 
 
-------------------------------------- 
CATHOLIC CHURCH SPEAKS HIGHLY OF DAVIZ 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶8.  (C)  The Charge recently met with Father Ticaque, 
representative of Roman Catholic Archbishop Goncalves, who 
characterized Mayor Daviz Simango as a charismatic and 
successful mayor, bringing visible improvements to the city 
and running the mayor's office transparently, while remaining 
accessible to his constituents, and even drawn the support of 
some FRELIMO party members.  Ticaque confirmed a widely held 
view that Simango has a technocratic style and appoints his 
deputies based on ability, rather than party allegiance. 
Ticaque explained that Simango's openness and availability 
are viewed as an attempt to gain popularity before 
challenging Dhlakama.  Calling Dhalakama's decision not to 
nominate Simango as RENAMO's candidate for mayor in the 
upcoming election ill-advised and a serious miscalculation, 
Ticaque said that Beira could become the center of a third 
major political party consisting of youth, academics and 
disaffected members of RENAMO and FRELIMO. 
 
------------------------------- 
CHARGE MEETS WITH DAVIZ SIMANGO 
------------------------------- 
 
¶9.  (C)  During their meeting just prior to the elections, 
Mayor Simango told the Charge that he still considered 
himself a member of RENAMO as there was no statutory 
mechanism for removal of members, adding that there was no 
democracy in RENAMO due to Dhlakama's dictatorial style.  He 
expressed concern at the lack of strategy and focus in the 
party preceding the November 19 elections, predicting that 
RENAMO would lose all of the five municipalities it 
previously controlled.  In his opinion, such a loss would 
signal the end of RENAMO as a major political party. 
According to Simango, FRELIMO is strong and well organized by 
comparison, using the "seven million meticais" local 
initiative funds and President Guebuza's "open presidency" to 
cement party control throughout the country. 
 
----------------------------------------- 
COMMENT: SIMANGO, POLITICS OF PERSONALITY 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶10. (C)  Simago seems to be the emerging leader of a new 
generation of politicians who do not necessarily identify 
with either FRELIMO or RENAMO.  If successful, Simango's next 
five-year term as Mayor could provide the time to solidify 
his new political party and base, positioning it well for the 
2014 general elections.  Daviz Simango appears to have a 
strong understanding of the way forward for opposition 
 
MAPUTO 00001190  003 OF 003 
 
 
politics in Mozambique, and may become a national contender 
in years to come, filling a much needed void in the political 
landscape ) representing young voters who do not have a 
stake in the legacy of Mozambique's early partisan politics 
between FRELIMO and RENAMO.  Well liked and capable to boot, 
Daviz Simango is likely to continue gaining notoriety for his 
efforts to improve Beira.  While still a regional player, the 
November 19 election provided Simango with significant free 
press, giving him national notoriety. Simango is an excellent 
interlocutor on political issues with a national vision who, 
at this stage, is Mozambique's most successful opposition 
political figure. 
Chapman