Three new deputy ministers sworn in

President Armando Guebuza has sworn into offices the deputy ministers of Public Works, Energy and Defence, namely Gabriel Muthisse, Jaime Himede and Agostinho Salvador Monjane. Guebuza had not previously appointed deputy ministers in these three ministries.
He urged the three new appointees to work for "the speedy implementation of our national agenda against poverty". Guebuza stressed that at the centre of the government's drive against poverty was his "Open and Inclusive Presidency" - by which he meant his regular trips around the provinces and districts. So far, in 2007 these have taken him to Zambezia, Tete, Niassa, Cabo Delgado and Nampula provinces, followed over the past two weeks by a tour of Maputo city and province.
He argued that this style of interacting with the public should characterise the political and administrative approach of the new deputy ministers too. The underlying assumption, Guebuza added, was "the principle that sovereignty lies with the people, and it has been entrusted to us to exercise it in their name". Guebuza also swore into office Florentino Chassafar, a newly appointed member of the Supreme Mass Media Council (CSCS), the 11 member body established under the Constitution to safeguard the independence of the media.
Chassafar was appointed by the parliamentary group of the Renamo-Electoral Union opposition coalition to replace Alberto Tchuma, who died in 2006. The President said he was pleased to note an increase in the number of the Mozambican media, and an improvement in their quality. Successes had been achieved "in preserving and deepening press freedom", he said, because the government regarded the media "as partners, united by the common interest in seeing Mozambique prosperous, always united and at peace". (Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique, Maputo)