The politics of gradualismo: popular participation and decentralised governance in Mozambique

The question of how to proceed with democratic decentralisation has been of political concern in Mozambique over the past decade. In accordance with post-war constitutional commitments to démocratisation after the country’s post-independence flirtation with socialism and a high degree of centralism, the process of decentralisation has taken two forms. First, a system of locally elected governments in the form of municipalities (municipios) for the urban and semi-urban areas was approved in 1997 to cover the devolution of direct although limited powers and functions to autonomous elected bodies. The Municipal Law (2/1997) made provision for locally elected municipalities (autarquias locais) in 33 urban or peri-urban settings.1 Second, for the rest of the population (roughly .70 percent) and the local state administration, the process of decentralisation has taken the general form of de-concentration and a transfer of responsibility to lower level bodies within the state sector combined with different forms of participatory mechanisms for representation and consultation. These participatory mechanisms are grounded in community- based organisations claiming representative status on the basis of identity, interest, community, and similar factors.