US embassy cable - 05MAPUTO257

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 MAPUTO 000257 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
STATE FOR INR/B AND AF/S - HTREGER 
STATE FOR AF/PD - CDALTON AND PEHRNMAN 
STATE FOR ECA/PE/V 
STATE PASS USTR FOR PCOLEMAN 
STATE PASS USAID FOR AFR/SA 
MCC FOR HARRINGTON AND GAULL 
USDOC FOR RTELCHIN 
DIA FOR MOLESWORTH RAF 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PINR, PGOV, MZ, Biographical 
SUBJECT: MOZAMBIQUE: BIODATA ON NEW GUEBUZA CABINET (PART III) 
 
REFS: (A) MAPUTO 184 
 
(B) MAPUTO 161 
(U) Sensitive but unclassified. Please handle accordingly. 
Not for Internet distribution. 
 
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Introduction 
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1. (U) This is the third message in a series of biographical 
reports on cabinet ministers recently appointed by President 
Guebuza. Sources include official ministerial biographies, 
local media reports, and information obtained from Embassy 
contacts. 
 
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Table of Contents 
----------------- 
-- Tomas Mandlate, Minister of Agriculture 
-- Salvador Namburete, Minister of Energy 
-- Cadmiel Muthemba, Minister of Fisheries 
-- Esperanca Machavela, Minister of Justice 
-- Esperanca Laurinda Bias, Minister of Mineral Resources 
-- Isabel Manuel Nkavadeka, Minister in the Presidency for 
Parliamentary Affairs 
-- Felicio Zacarias, Minister of Public Works and Housing 
-- Venancio Massingue, Minister of Science and Technology 
-- Antonio Francisco Munguambe, Minister of Transport and 
Communication 
-- Feliciano Gundana, Minister for Veterans' Affairs 
-- David Simango, Minister of Youth and Sports 
 
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Tomas Mandlate, Minister of Agriculture 
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2. (U) Tomas Mandlate replaces Helder Muteia as Minister of 
Agriculture. Mandlate previously had served since 2000 as 
governor of the northern province of Tete. He is an 
educator by profession. Before his appointment as governor, 
Mandlate was a senior official in the Ministry of Education, 
serving in various positions including Provincial Director 
of Education in Gaza and Director of Primary Teachers 
Training Center in Matola. Mandlate sits on FRELIMO's 177- 
member Central Committee. 
 
3. (SBU) As governor of Tete Mandlate made progress in 
developing the province's agriculture sector. Mandlate is 
known for both his competency and his arrogance. Press 
reports indicate he will need to temper the latter 
characteristic to effectively manage the upper ranks of his 
ministry. 
 
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Salvador Namburete, Minister of Energy 
-------------------------------------- 
4. (U) Salvador Namburete leaves his post as Vice Minister 
of Trade and Industry to become Minister of the newly formed 
Ministry of Energy -- an offshoot, along with the Ministry 
of Mineral Resources, of the former Ministry of Mineral 
Resources and Energy. (Esperanca Laurinda Bias is the new 
Minister of Mineral Resources - see para 14 below.) 
Namburete holds a degree in Economics from Eduardo Mondlane 
University in Maputo (1992), as well as a Master's in 
International Trade and Finance from Lancaster University in 
the UK (1994) and a Master's in Finance from American 
University in Washington DC (1998). 
 
5. (U) Namburete began his public service career in 1982 at 
the then-Ministry of International Trade. He held various 
positions within the Ministry, including Head of Training 
and Development (1983-1984), Regional Director of the 
Northern Trade Zone (1986-1987), National Director of 
International Trade (1989-1996), and Advisor to the Minister 
of Trade and Tourism (1996). From 1996 to 1998 Namburete 
served as Economic Advisor to Mozambique's Embassy in 
Washington and Mission to the United Nations in New York. 
Namburete served at the Permanent Mission to the United 
Nations in Geneva in 1999-2000. 
 
6. (SBU) The Ministry of Energy has been given the main 
areas of responsibility from the former Ministry of Mineral 
Resources and Energy. Production of gas, coal and oil, as 
well as refining all fall within the mandate of the Ministry 
of Energy, leaving only commercial mines and informal mining 
with the new Ministry of Mineral Resources. 
 
7. (U) Namburete served as FRELIMO deputy in Nampula from 
1985 to 1987. Namburete has a reputation for being open 
minded and dynamic. He was born December 27, 1955 in 
Inhambane province. 
 
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Cadmiel Muthemba, Minister of Fisheries 
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8. (U) Cadmiel Muthemba retains his post as Minister of 
Fisheries, to which he was appointed in January 2000. 
Muthemba served as Inspector General in the Ministry of 
Agriculture and Fisheries (1995-2000) prior to his 
appointment as Minister. 
 
9. (U) In 1983 he was named Director General of the milling 
company, MOBEIRA, a position he occupied until 1987 when he 
was appointed as governor of Tete province. He served as 
governor of Tete until 1995. 
 
10. (SBU) In May 1965 Muthemba and a group of 75 FRELIMO 
loyalists were jailed after being caught trying to secretly 
to cross the Swaziland-South Africa border. He spent more 
than 7 years in prison in Mozambique. Upon his release in 
1972 Muthemba resumed his secondary school education. 
However he eventually dropped out in September 1974 to 
become a part of FRELIMO's post-independence government. 
Muthemba was elected to the FRELIMO Central Committee in 
1983 and served as its secretary from 1995 to 1997. 
 
11. (U) Muthemba was born July 20, 1945 in the southern 
province of Gaza. 
 
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Esperanca Machavela, Minister of Justice 
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12. (U) Esperanca Machavela replaces Jose Ibraimo Abudo as 
Minister of Justice. Machavela is a lawyer who worked for 
many years in the Foreign Ministry, including as Ambassador 
in Havana and Lisbon. She also served in the Mozambican 
Embassy in the United States 
 
13. (SBU) In his February 2 inauguration speech, Guebuza 
singled out the justice sector, promising that his 
government would strive to strengthen institutions 
responsible for public security and the administration of 
justice. But critics in the press are skeptical that 
Machavela will have the political will and even the backing 
from Guebuza to be effective in her post. 
 
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Esperanca Laurinda Bias, Minister of Mineral Resources 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
14. (U) Esperanca Laurinda Bias takes over as Minister of 
the newly formed Ministry of Mineral Resources, created from 
the breakup of the former Ministry of Mineral Resources and 
Energy. (Salvador Namburete takes over the Energy portfolio 
- see para 4 above). She had been Vice Minister of Mineral 
Resources and Energy. Bias received a degree in Economics 
from Eduardo Mondlane University in 1990. In 1983 Bias 
joined the National Mining Company, where she worked first 
as Head of Administrative Services and then as Department 
Head until 1984. From 1984 to 1991 she worked for the Gems 
and Precious Stones Company as Department Head, Director of 
the Gem Cutting Industry, and later Director General of Gems 
and Precious Stones. In 1991 Bias began her career with the 
Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy. She was promoted 
from Deputy Director of Coal (1991-1994) to Deputy Director 
of Economics (1994-1998), and finally to Director of 
Economics (1998-2000). 
 
15. (SBU) Bias is considered a technocrat and not part of 
the FRELIMO inner circle. She is not expected to have a 
strong position in government. 
 
16. (U) Bias was born July 28, 1959 on Ilha de Mozambique in 
Nampula province. She is a member of the Committee of 
Working Women (COMUTRA), an organization that focuses on 
women's working conditions and role within trade unions. 
 
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Isabel Manuel Nkavadeka, Minister in the Presidency for 
Parliamentary Affairs 
--------------------------------------------- --------------- 
17. (U) Isabel Manuel Nkavandeka has been appointed to the 
newly created post of Minister in the Presidency for 
Parliamentary Affairs. From 1990 until her appointment as 
Minister she was a senior official within the Ministry of 
Industry and Commerce. She was also a FRELIMO deputy in the 
National Assembly from 1994 to 1999, where she worked as a 
member of the International Relations Committee. She holds 
a degree in International Relations from the Higher 
Institute for International Relations in Maputo. NKavandeka 
began to work with FRELIMO in 1976, and was elected as a 
member of FRELIMO's Central Committee at the party's third 
congress in 1977. 
 
18. (SBU) She is considered an open individual and was 
reportedly an active participant in parliamentary affairs 
during her tenure in the National Assembly. 
 
19. (U) She was born in 1955 in Cabo Delgado. 
 
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Felicio Zacarias, Minister of Public Works and Housing 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
20. (U) Felicio Zacarias leaves his position as governor of 
Sofala province to replace Roberto White as Minister of 
Public Works and Housing. Zacarias is an agricultural 
engineer by training, though he did not complete his 
university degree. Instead, he abandoned his studies in 
1971 to begin work, before being called for military service 
in 1974. In March of the same year Zacarias defected from 
the colonial army to join FRELIMO. Following independence 
he began work in the agriculture sector, holding positions 
with the Ministry of Agriculture and various private sector 
agribusinesses (1979-1997). Before being appointed governor 
of Sofala province in 2000, Zacarias served as governor of 
his home province, Manica. He is a member of the 177-member 
FRELIMO Central Committee. 
 
21. (SBU) Zacarias is recognized for his tough stance 
against corruption. As governor of Sofala, Zacarias cracked 
down on contractors involved in building low-quality 
infrastructure at inflated prices and conducted unannounced 
inspections of provincial government institutions. There 
were many who expected Zacarias to be appointed Minister of 
Interior due to his anti-corruption efforts. 
 
22. (U) Zacarias was born on September 10, 1953 in the 
central province of Manica. 
 
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Venancio Massingue, Minister of Science and Technology 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
23. (U) Venancio Massingue is Minister of the newly formed 
Ministry of Science and Technology. Massingue was formerly 
Vice Chancellor of Administration, Resources and Information 
Technology at Eduardo Mondlane University (1996-2005). In 
1992 he earned a degree in Electrical Engineering there, 
while completing specialized coursework in computer hardware 
at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. 
Before assuming the position of Vice Chancellor, Massingue 
served as director of the University's Informatics Center 
(1986-1993) and then as a lecturer in the Department of 
Information Technology (1993-1996). 
 
24. (SBU) Massingue is a member of the Mozambican 
Informatics Policy Task Force for Development of National 
Information Policy, and was the chairperson for the African 
Technical Advisory Committee (ATAC) of the African 
Information Society Initiative (AISI) under the United 
Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA). Massingue 
and Salomao Manhica, President of the National Institute of 
Communications, are considered the gurus of information 
technology in Mozambique. Massingue is the only PhD in the 
Cabinet. 
 
25. (U) The Ministry of Science and Technology was created 
from part of what used to be the Ministry of Higher 
Education, Science and Technology. The other part of the 
former ministry has become the Ministry of Education and 
Culture. 
 
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Antonio Francisco Munguambe, Minister of Transport and 
Communication 
--------------------------------------------- --------------- 
26. (U) Antonio Francisco Munguambe replaces Tomaz Salomao 
as Minister of Transport and Communication. Munguambe is a 
long-serving official in the Ministry of Industry and 
Commerce (MIC), who spent most of the 1980's negotiating 
various international trade agreements, including the Common 
Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the Lome 
Convention. From 1994 to 1999 he served as Vice Minister of 
Commerce. After this he apparently remained in MIC, but at 
an unknown capacity. Before working for MIC, Munguambe was 
the director of the textile company, Encatex. 
 
27. (SBU) Munguambe is rumored to be a business partner of 
President Guebuza. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
Feliciano Gundana, Minister for Veterans' Affairs 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
28. (U) Feliciano Gundana was one of the first to join the 
FRELIMO movement, participating in its founding Congress in 
1962. Gundana was one of only a few FRELIMO guerrillas who 
received training in Algeria, prior to the 1964 start to the 
war of independence. After independence Gundana held 
various posts, including governor of Inhambane (1978-1980), 
governor of Nampula (1980-1986), governor of Zambezia (1986- 
1987), and a Minister in the Presidency (1987-1994). 
Gundana was also the Secretary General of FRELIMO from 1991 
to 1995 and a deputy in the National Assembly from 2000 to 
2005. He is a member of the FRELIMO Central Committee. 
 
29. (U) Gundana is the oldest member of the cabinet, born in 
1940 in Machanga district, Sofala province. 
 
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David Simango, Minister of Youth and Sports 
------------------------------------------- 
30. (U) David Simango leaves his post as governor of Niassa 
province to replace Joel Libombo as Minister of Youth and 
Sport. As governor, Simango was instrumental in the 
creation of an ombudsman office to mediate conflicts between 
businesses and the government. Prior to arriving in Niassa 
in 2000, Simango, who hails from Maputo, was a FRELIMO 
deputy in the Maputo municipal assembly. Before that 
Simango served with distinction as Director for Education of 
Maputo city. He successfully fostered cooperation among his 
colleagues, which allowed him to address some of the school 
system's many shortcomings, in particular overcrowding of 
schools. He is a member of the FRELIMO Central Committee. 
 
31. (SBU) Simango is described in the press as open and 
accessible, qualities that will be necessary to succeed in 
this post. 
LA LIME