Africa-Press – Mozambique. The President of the Republic, Daniel Chapo, presided today in Maputo over the Ceremony for the Signing of Programme Contracts with Ministers, an act framed within strengthening governance oriented towards results, efficiency, and responsibility in public management.
The ceremony, attended by government members and other invited entities, marks an innovation in the governance process, establishing an objective mechanism for monitoring and evaluating the performance of members of the Council of Ministers.
Programme Contracts are fundamental management tools through which goals, priorities, and performance commitments are set between the Head of State and the ministers, aiming to improve service delivery to citizens and realise the strategic objectives of the Government.
The President of the Republic, Daniel Francisco Chapo, stated this Tuesday that the signing of Programme Contracts with Government Ministers marks the start of a new phase in Mozambican governance, centred on accountability, results evaluation, and the real impact of public policies on citizens’ lives. He emphasised that “this is not governance by complacency,” but rather “governance based on demand, discipline, ethics, integrity, and commitment to national interest.”
Speaking at the Presidency during the signing ceremony, the Head of State described the event as “of high political, institutional, and symbolic importance,” emphasising that it is not “a mere administrative exercise,” but “a clear assertion of a new way of governing, focused on responsibility, transparency, and concrete results for the Mozambican people.”
President Chapo explained that the initiative fulfils a public commitment made in his inaugural speech on 15 January 2025 to institute governance guided by clear indicators and targets, “where each public leader is accountable for the performance of their sector, in the name of national interest and the Mozambican people.”
According to the Head of State, at the moment of this signing, the Executive pledged to build “an effective, disciplined and responsible Government”, “a Government that accounts for its actions”, and “a Government that respects the efforts of the Mozambican people and uses every public resource with rigour, ethics and a sense of mission”, making it clear that each Minister and public leader would formally commit to performance agreements [Programme Contracts].
The Head of Government acknowledged that the signing occurs at the end of the first governmental year, noting that this period was dedicated to laying structural foundations such as the conception of the National Development Strategy, the preparation of the Government’s Five-Year Programme, and the drafting and approval of the Economic and Social Plan and State Budget (PESOE), alongside the internal reorganisation of sectors and definition of their strategic plans.
For the President, “governing requires method and planning,” and it would be “virtually impossible to sign the Programme Contracts” without these structural instruments, which is why he considers this the right moment to formalise performance commitments with each Government member.
Furthermore, President Chapo highlighted that the Programme Contracts clearly establish strategic objectives, indicators, deadlines, and responsibilities for each sector, aligned with the Government’s Five-Year Programme. He emphasised that “they are not instruments of distrust, but of responsibility,” constituting “pacts of trust between the President of the Republic and each Minister, and above all, between the Government and the Mozambican people.”
The Head of State was unequivocal in affirming that the Programme Contracts will be accompanied, monitored, and evaluated, ensuring that “merit will be recognised” and “unjustified non-compliance will also be assessed and come with consequences.” He reinforced that evaluations will focus on execution, policy quality, and the ability to transform resources into tangible benefits for the population.
In his closing remarks, President Daniel Chapo reiterated that the Programme Contracts represent “work contracts with the Mozambican people” and that no one should govern without accountability, concluding that this new governance phase will be marked by execution and results, reaffirming the mandate’s motto: “Let’s Work!”
