US embassy cable - 04MAPUTO99

UNCLAS MAPUTO 000099 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
STATE FOR AF/S 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, KHIV, MZ, EUN, HIV/AIDS/PEPFAR 
SUBJECT: Mocumbi - His days are numbered, it would seem 
 
 
1. (SBU) Summary: At a Press conference held in Maputo January 
20, Prime Minister Pascoal Mocumbi indicated that he will accept 
a position as the High Level Representative of a European Union 
Health Initiative. While he did not state when he would be 
leaving his current position, it appears that it could be as 
early as February/March. End summary 
 
2. (U) At the invite of the European Union, the Ambassador 
attended a January 20 press conference which featured Prime 
Minister Mocumbi. Purpose of the encounter with the Press was to 
provide the media with information on the "European Developing 
Countries Clinical Trials Partnership - EDCTP" an initiative in 
which Prime Minister Mocumbi has been invited to serve as the 
High Level Representative. 
 
3. (U) The initiative was featured as a bold undertaking , a 
long term partnership between Europe and developing countries to 
develop new medicines and vaccines to address the three largest 
health threats to development: HIV/AIDS, Malaria and 
Tuberculosis. Fifteen European countries are participating in 
the coordinating committee. The EU plans to provide 200 million 
Euros in support for the project. The EDCTP will seek to 
coordinate research efforts and information flow among the 
various African and European scientific communities. The 
initiative also envisions paying stipends to encourage African 
researchers and scientists who have departed Africa to return. 
While still in its earliest stages, the EDCTP will set up two 
secretariats: one in the Netherlands, the other in Africa. 
 
SIPDIS 
 
4. (SBU) Avoiding responding directly to questions concerning 
his future role in the initiative, Mocumbi's comments focused on 
the importance of the program and its potential for Africa and 
for Mozambique. He side-stepped questions from the press 
regarding whether he would be leaving his position as prime 
minister soon, by saying that the timing of his participation in 
the project is still unclear as the initiative is in its early 
stages. His role is first to serve a Prime Minister of 
Mozambique, he said, and the decision is not his to make, but 
President Chissano's. 
 
5. (SBU) Comment: This press conference appears to set the stage 
for an imminent departure by Mocumbi. Maputo is rife with rumors 
regarding who will succeed him. We have heard that Finance 
Minister Louisa Diogo is the top candidate. It is widely held 
that Diogo would only hold the job until a new cabinet would be 
formed following the expected election victory of Armando 
Guebuza. Guebuza is expected to select a close ally to serve as 
PM, possible former Information Minister Teodato Hunguane. 
Rumors have circulated in the past months regarding Mocumbi's 
imminent departure for Europe, and he put them off. The Dutch 
Ambassador thought Mocumbi would be leaving sooner rather than 
later. She mentioned that the EDCTP hopes to have its 
secretariat launched in February. If that is so, and if 
 
SIPDIS 
Mocumbi's role is a critical one, it would seem that he would 
have to be free to assume his new duties soon. What is missing 
in all of this is a statement from the Presidency concerning 
Mocumbi and his successor. Mocumbi, for his part, put off 
answering a question regarding how he would enjoy living in 
Holland by saying he would prefer to defer comment until he has 
had the opportunity to live there a while and to experience the 
climate. 
LA LIME