Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05MAPUTO257
2005-02-25 09:18:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Maputo
Cable title:  

MOZAMBIQUE: BIODATA ON NEW GUEBUZA CABINET (PART III)

Tags:  PINR PGOV MZ 
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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
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.

-------------
Introduction
-------------
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
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.

--------------
Introduction
--------------

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.

--------------
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

--------------
Tomas Mandlate, Minister of Agriculture
--------------

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.

--------------
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.

--------------
Cadmiel Muthemba, Minister of Fisheries
--------------

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.

--------------
Esperanca Machavela, Minister of Justice
--------------

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.

-------------- --------------
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.

-------------- --------------
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.

-------------- --------------
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.

-------------- --------------
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.

-------------- --------------
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.

--------------
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