Zitamar Daily: Intrigue over Nampula murder will continue despite convictions

Also: Frelimo musical chairs in Gaza and Inhambane

Good afternoon. The sentencing today of two men for the murder of the former mayor of Nampula and rising political star Mahamudo Amurane is unlikely to end the debate over the motivations of those who killed him. Saíde Ali Abdala, a councillor and Amurane’s colleague in the municipality, and businessman Zainal Satar were sentenced to 20 and 23 years respectively.

Amurane was popular among Nampula residents and a rising opposition figure at the national level. Until his election in 2013 with the MDM party, Amurane had had various jobs as a project manager and consultant for NGOs assisting the government, and later established himself as entrepreneur.

By the time of his assassination on October 4, 2017 Amurane, who had been mayor of Mozambique’s third largest city for almost four years, was seen by many as a competent manager in a province which has historically favored the opposition.

In Nampula he was praised for his managerial qualities, and a sense of pride grew among locals for a politician in a political structure where power is generally concentrated in Maputo. He also represented, for some, a fighter for a marginalised northern Mozambique. That belief meant many people saw the killing of Amurane as an attempt to stop him doing what he was doing for the people of Nampula.

At the start of 2017, divergences with his party were visible for all to see. Amurane claimed elements in the MDM wanted to put the party’s interests before those of the people of Nampula. As the disagreement unfolded, Amurane demanded public apologies from the leadership of MDM. It seemed increasingly clear that Amurane and his party had irreversibly parted ways and he would run again in 2018 with a new political movement. 

Could Amurane have challenged the political establishment and start a new wave of viable politicians? We will never know.

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The appointment of the young secretary of state in Inhambane province, Ludmila Maguni, as Frelimo’s top spokesperson has forced Nyusi to make new appointments. Her post in Inhambane has been given to Amosse Macamo, a dynamic young man on the rise in Frelimo who up to now held the same post in neighbouring Gaza — clearly earning a positive report in what was his first experience as a senior government official, after many posts at Frelimo party headquarters.

Amosse is a strong ally of agriculture minister Celso Correia, and