Manuel de Araújo: Making government work with and for the people
Quelimane is a seaport in Mozambique that forms the administrative capital of Zambezia province. The town has a large hospital, a mosque, two cathedrals, a public university for teachers and beautiful art deco architecture.
Because of its proximity to a river mouth, it is prone to flooding and tourism is slow as the province is less accessible than other parts of the country. Much of the town had fallen to ruin – the cathedral was abandoned and used by street kids, the supermarket closed and the cinema flooded.
In December 2011, Manuel de Araújo was appointed mayor and things began to change.
Educated in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and the United Kingdom, De Araújo has served as a member of parliament, he was the shadow minister for youth, sports, tourism and culture, as well as the shadow secretary of state for Europe, Central and South America. He has lectured in economics, international relations and comparative foreign policies.
Son of a local rice farmer, he made the community a promise when he ran for mayor that he would end corruption and make government work for the people. Unsurprisingly, he won a landslide victory with 63% of the vote.
No stranger to activism, De Araújo was previously a campaigner for the Portuguese and Spanish African-speaking countries and a campaign co-ordinator for the Southern African Development Community project on policing and human rights at Amnesty International.
As mayor he has involved members of the public in clearing trenches in the city where mosquitoes usually breed, thereby reducing cases of malaria. He reopened a fish market that had been closed, repaired the local swimming pool and fixed roads.
Seeing the changes, locals started paying tax and businesses that had been boarded up returned to the city. But it has not been an easy path.
When he took office, he discovered that his predecessor had left him a mountain of debt. As member of the opposition party, he could not turn to the central government for assistance, so he had to convince the citizens to help out on a limited budget.
By harnessing the skills and resources of the city, De Araújo is showing the locals that he trusts in them and wants them to be part of the transformation process.