Mozambican Prime Minister Adriano Maleiane stresses the need to constantly improve the current decentralisation model, so that it responds to the dynamics of the country’s socio-political reality.
The government noted that in the first years of implementing the decentralised governance process, which resulted in the creation of a Provincial Executive Council and the Provincial Council of State Representation, there are still challenges linked to clarifying the competences of each body, the sectoral coordination mechanisms and the planning and budgeting model, among others.
Maleiane made these statements today in the city of Pemba, the capital of the northern province of Cabo Delgado, at the opening of the IV Session of the National Coordination Council, a harmonisation body whose aim is to ensure coordination and articulation between the players involved in the decentralisation process.
“We have to continue to deepen our reflections on this issue and, as a result, move towards perfecting the current decentralisation framework under implementation,” Maleiane told the governors and secretaries of state in the province.
According to Maleiane, it was with this imperative in mind that the government set up the Commission for Reflection on the Decentralised Governance Model (CREMOD) in 2023, whose mission is to study and propose the decentralisation model best suited to the country’s current context, looking in particular at the constitutional, political, administrative, social and financial order.
He characterised the IV Session of the National Coordination Council as the ideal forum to address important issues related to strengthening the mechanisms of operation, articulation and coordination between the Secretaries of State in the province, provincial governors, local authorities and the central bodies.
“The central aim of the body is to ensure greater closeness and interaction between the governing bodies and the communities, which contributes to consolidating the decentralisation process,” he said.
Acknowledging the need to deepen the model, Cândida Moiane, the national director of Local Governance at the Ministry of State and Civil Service, said that addressing the challenges listed, especially issues related to competences within the scope of action of decentralised bodies, depends on the law, as provided for in the Constitution.
He assured that there are already proposals on this legal provision that should be channelled to the Assembly of the Republic (parliament) for approval. “The way to resolve this is to finalise the draft law and submit it to the Assembly of the Republic,” he said.
According to Moiane, through the coordination meeting, his Ministry is beginning to better understand the extent to which each decentralised body can act, although there are already guidelines that the Constitution itself establishes.
She did not set a timeframe for the creation of this legal instrument, bearing in mind that various changes could occur, with the general elections taking place on 9 October.
AIM
