Mozambique tourism revenue doubles

Mozambique's beaches are the major attraction for tourists.
Photograph by: Tom Shaw
Credit: Getty Images
Mozambique's tourism revenue more than doubled in the past five years, hitting R1,5-billion in 2009 for the first time ever, the country's tourism minister announced.

Some 1.5 million people visited the southern African country in 2009, also more than double the 2004 figure, Minister Fernando Sumbana Jr was quoted by the weekly Canal de Mocambique newspaper as saying.


In 2004, the former Portuguese colony earned only R682.7-million from tourism.

With its nearly 2,500 kilometres of Indian Ocean coastline, Mozambique was a premier tourist destination before the country's 16- year civil war, which killed around 1 million people and wrecked basic infrastructure by the time it ended in 1992.

In recent years, tourists have begun returning to the country's seaside resorts, game parks and colonial cities.

The government aims to attract 4 million tourists a year by 2020. Central to its plans is the World Cup in South Africa next year: Mozambique hopes to lure many of the football fans for a short visit across the border

Source:timeslive.co.za/

Mozambique: U.S. Funds Programmes in Zambezia and Nampula

Maputo — The United States Embassy in Mozambique announced on Wednesday the launching of two development programmes in Zambezia and Nampula provinces that will cost about 50 million US dollars during the next five years.

These programmes, named "Strengthening Communities through Integrated Programming" (SCIP), are to provide integrated health services, including HIV/AIDS prevention, support for rural enterprises, hygiene and sanitation, among other services, to be carried out in partnership with the beneficiaries and the US government.

The SCIP was launched this Tuesday in Zambezia, where the consortium of partners is headed by the US-based NGOWorld Vision, states the embassy release.

On Wednesday it was the turn of Nampula, where the provincial governor, Felismino Tocoli, inaugurated the programme, in the presence of the director of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in Mozambique, Todd Amani.

A photograph exhibition is due to be opened in the National Ethnology Museum in Nampula on Friday to mark 25 years of partnership between Mozambique and US.

The photos to be exhibited show the various programmes financed by the US in Mozambique. These cover areas such as health, sanitation, mine clearing, natural disasters, agriculture, education, defense, human rights and good governance.

Source:allafrica.com/

SPORT STONES: Thank God and Mozambique, we are in South Africa

The first person to

call me after the Super Eagles qualified for the World Cup was the

Chief Standards Editor of NEXT, Gbemiga Ogunleye.

A diehard Gunner, I

take pleasure in teasing Mr. Ogunleye each time Arsenal kids are taught

one or two lessons in football by Manchester United, Chelsea, or any of

the Cities, Hull, Stoke, Birmingham, or Bolton.

But Mr. Ogunleye is

also a diehard supporter of the Super Eagles. After our 2-2 draw

against Tunisia in Abuja, his number one concern was our chances of

qualifying for the World Cup. Each time he asked, I always told him

that ‘blessed are the hopeful, for they will not be disappointed’. I

was cocksure that the Eagles could not qualify after throwing that

opportunity away and was already thinking of 2014 World Cup.

Converted by a trip to Mozambican border

Penultimate week, I

was in South Africa for a training workshop at the University of

Witwatersrand, in Johannesburg. After the programme, a few of us

decided to travel to Mpumalanga province. The farther we explored the

province, the closer we got to Mozambique. At most bars and

restaurants, we foundd a lot of Mozambican tourists and immigrants, and

the only subject of discourse was the match between Mozambique and

Tunisia and how imperative it was for them to win the match and qualify

for the Nations Cup which is taking place in their region.

They told me the

Super Eagles were going to lose in Kenya, so they needed to win their

match to avoid the embarrassment of missing out of the Nations Cup and

watch Kenya on television.

The Mozambicans

could not understand how Nigeria escaped from Maputo with a point, and

how they left Abuja without a point after playing so well.

Given the zeal with which the Mozambicans played, I knew the best the Tunisians could get was a draw.

Back in Nigeria

When I entered the

newsroom last week and told my colleagues that the Eagles would

qualify, Nnamdi Okosieme said ‘Kay you don’t change, abi na you go pay

the Kenyan and the Mozambican the Gbalamu or you are now in charge of

tactical for NFF”. Many of my colleagues could not understand where my

optimism was coming from and they advised me not to come to work on

Sunday. It was the same story in the neighbourhood where I live, as

they all told me to pack and start looking for another accommodation.

During the match

when the Eagles were a goal down, Okosieme called me, “Kay, Kenyans don

score, your prediction has failed.” I advised him to relax, that the

game was 90 minutes and not 45 minutes.

At the end of the day, the Eagles qualified, and the Mozambicans also made it to the Nations Cup.

But apart from the

ambition of the Mozambicans and the crisis in the camp of Kenya, the

prayer of Nigerians, especially the General Overseer of the Redeemed

Christian Church Of God, Pastor Adajare Adeboye, were answered. Paul

Bankole wrote in Next last Tuesday that we would qualify because God

would intervene on our behalf.

What next ?

Now that we have qualified, the NFF and its spin doctors will go to town and start claiming the glory that belongs to God.

Super Eagles coach,

Shaibu Amodu, should be humble enough to admit that he has not got what

it takes to handle the Super Eagles. Amodu’s selection, tactics and

everything about the Eagles coach, are faulty. It is not enough for us

to qualify for the World Cup, we must go there and prove that we are

one of the best.

Our number one need

is a good coach. Many football buffs and fans would say that we don’t

have players again, that the last time we had quality players was

USA’94.

Check the pedigree

of the players we have today and the ones we used for the USA’94 World

Cup; you need not be an Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho to know that we

have better players today.

The Eagles, under

Amodu, are like England under Steve MaClaren. A bunch of uncommitted

players who are not giving their best because they are untouchable; who

will play for the national team irrespective of their form and

performances in training. The same set of players that could not

qualify for the EURO 2008, qualified for the World Cup with two matches

to spare.

With a Capello-like coach, the Eagles will make a huge impact in

South Africa. One hopes Sanni Lulu, Bolaji Ojo-Oba and Taiwo Ogunjobi

are reading.

Source:234next.com/

Principals To Announce Talks Outcome

HARARE, December 11, 2009 – Zimbabwe’s political leaders are on Monday expected to announce the outcome of the latest round of talks whichwere called by the SADC troika in Maputo, Mozambique early last month.


Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said Thursday evening the three principals will meet on Monday to consider the outcome of the negotiations and make a possible announcement.


“I am hoping that we would be able to announce some position as towhat has been the outcome of the negotiating process as well as ensuring that some of the outstanding issues are resolved,” Tsvangirai said, as he received the new United States ambassador to Zimbabwe,Charles A. Ray at his house in Harare’s low density Strathaven suburb.


“The principals are scheduled to meet on Monday and we have both been briefed by our teams, so we will meet to consider the reports andwhere there are deadlocks, we try to find a political solution to it.Certainly we cannot go on and on for ever and this is the message that has been communicated to us by the South African facilitation team andwe hope we will be able to announce them.


“We must be conscious that we do not break our own deadlines and thatis what I was communicating to the facilitators and the facilitators are also anxious to ensure that we have credibility in the process andso we have a further meeting with the principals to try and receive reports from our various negotiators.”


However, Tsvangirai could not be drawn into revealing what issues would be announced although it is expected that the issues like theZimbabwe Media Commission and the Electoral Commission would be announced.


A South African facilitation team that was appointed by PresidentJacob Zuma has twice been to Zimbabwe in as many weeks to press Zimbabwe’s parties into respecting the November 5 deadline set by SADC.


The MDC seeks the reversal of all unilateral appointments made by President Robert Mugabe after the signing of the GPA in September last year.


They include those of the Attorney General, Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor, provincial governors and ambassadors.


The MDC also wants its treasurer general Roy Bennett, who is currently being tried for terrorism, to be unconditionally sworn into his position as deputy minister of agriculture.


It is also seeking a stop to continued invasions on productive farmsby Zanu PF supporters, state media bias, the failure by the National Security Council to meet regularly and the continued arrest of its activists.


Zanu PF wants the MDC to unequivocally commit itself to making calls for the lifting of western imposed targeted sanctions on its officials and businesses and the dissolution of the so-called parallel government structures.


But Tsvangirai said the removal of sanctions was a collective responsibility as opposed to that of his party alone.


“It is wrong to imply that MDC has liability over those issues. This is a collective liability as a nation and therefore that collective liability must be resolved collectively especially when it comes to ensuring that we comply with the benchmarks set by those people who set out those restrictions,” said Tsvangirai.

Source:radiovop.com/

Mozambique: Overhaul of Anti-Corruption Strategy Needed

Maputo — No government agency can, on its own, take responsibility for fighting corruption, prominent Mozambican jurist Abdul Carimo, director of the government's Legal Reform Technical Unit (UTREL), warned on Wednesday.

Speaking at Maputo commemorations of World Anti-Corruption Day, Carimo argued that "only a network of public institutions, each playing their role in dissuasion, denunciation, investigation and punishment of corrupt practices" could defeat corruption.

"The battle can only be won if public and private institutions act together and with the single purpose of guaranteeing that corruption does not subvert governance", he added.

Although corruption involves larger sums of money in rich countries than in poor ones, corruption is a worse problem in Africa than in Europe, because African countries "lack a system that reacts to the presence of corruption".

Such a system was the equivalent of the human immune system that reacts rapidly to infection. "Africa in general has not yet developed this defence system, which makes it hard to fight against the virus of corruption", said Carimo.

Certain basic conditions were required, he added. One was "political will, expressed not just in speeches but in concrete acts", and a second was a legal environment "that grants effective powers of investigation and clear rules of evidence, which helps to prosecute and judge crimes of corruption".

Carimo also called for "a clear, complete and coherent strategy for the fight against corruption". This would include not only the effective application of the law, and a fight against impunity, but also the elimination of opportunities for corruption.

This meant, for example, scrapping discretionary powers, "administrative improvisation", excessive centralisation and "obsolete management systems".

Carimo also called for educating the public about corruption, since "no authority can combat corruption without the support of citizens".

The objective of an anti-corruption strategy, he said, should be "on the one hand, to reduce corruption to the point where it does not undermine the construction of the state, the functioning of institutions and the transparency of business, and on the other to bring the people to regard it as a threat and to protect themselves from it".

The current anti-corruption law needed a major overhaul. Carimo pointed out that it is in conflict with other legislation, including the Penal Code, and does not cover certain types of crimes, that would normally be regarded as corruption, such as trafficking in influence, and illicit enrichment.

Furthermore the law is so poorly drafted that it only punishes people who are successfully corrupt, and not those whose attempts to demand bribes fail. The current law also deals exclusively with the public sector, and does not deal with corruption in the private sector.

So Carimo suggested that a new law should be passed covering all types of corruption, including within the private sector, and covering such issues as conflict of interests, abuse of public office, abuse of trust, and trafficking in influence. The legislation should be harmonised, so that the country did not possess laws that contradicted each other.

Carimo thought there should be provisions to encourage criminals to confess. Thus people who admit to corrupt behaviour, repay any stolen money, and blow the whistle on others involved in corrupt networks, should be pardoned or receive a suspended sentence.

Carimo also argued that the powers of the Central Office for the Fight against Corruption (GCCC), which operates out of the Attorney-General's Office, should be covered in a separate law. This should allow the GCCC not only to investigate cases, but also to prosecute them.

This would end the current anomaly whereby the GCCC, although consisting of prosecutors, cannot itself prosecute cases, but must hand them over to the provincial attorneys. The GCCC should also be empowered to take preventive measures to seize assets, preventing those suspected of corruption from selling off possessions they may have illicitly acquired.

A further new piece of legislation suggested by Carimo was for the protection of witnesses and whistle blowers. This was required, not only in cases of corruption, but in all forms of organised crime, including money laundering, and drug trafficking.

Source:allafrica.com/

Angola, Mozambique approve media cooperation accord

Luanda – A cooperation accord between Angola and Mozambique in the domain of social communication has been in force since October 07, 2009, following the release of the Cabinet Council contained in the series 190 of the Gazette that reached Angop on Sunday.


The source mentions the friendship and cooperation relations between the two governments, based on the reciprocal and respect of the principles contained in Charter of the African Union Organisation.


Moreover, the accord has also taken into account the fraternal, historical ties between the two peoples and the desire to promote and increase cooperation.

Amnesty urges justice in Mozambique police deaths

MAPUTO — Human rights group Amnesty International criticised Mozambique on Monday for failing to investigate and prosecute police officers suspected of unlawful killings.

Amnesty released a report criticising what it called a lack of justice in police brutality cases in the southern African country, where the organisation says at least 46 people have been unlawfully killed by police since 2006.

Amnesty called on Mozambique's government to take a tougher stance on excessive police violence and ensure justice for victims' families in cases of unlawful police killings.

"The government seems to have permitted and even encouraged a number of obstacles to be put in the way of victims' families as they sought justice," said Erwin van der Borght, head of Amnesty's Africa programme.

"The families of victims face almost insurmountable challenges and only the most persistent and well-off have been able to get some small measure of justice."

Amnesty blamed police officers' tendency to "protect their own" for contributing to a lack of justice in extra-judicial police killings.

The report recommends the government launch impartial investigations into police killings, make autopsies mandatory in police shootings and pay reparations to victims' families.

Mozambique is one of the world's poorest countries, and has struggled with police corruption and brutality in the face of low wages, high crime rates and a back-log of criminal cases.

The Mozambican Human Rights League has called on authorities to improve police training and implement law enforcement reforms in order to put an end to cases of torture and summary execution at the hands of police.

Source:http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gUJWvd16_RGqSyQkBcwGbu_QOHYw