Mozambican opposition accuses gov't of favoring its party

Mozambican opposition accuses gov't of favoring its party
Allowances for elderly Mozambicans are allocated on a political basis, opposition parliamentarians claimed on Wednesday, while the government retorted that the criteria used are purely administrative.

Deputies of the Mozambique Democratic Movement (MDM) claimed that, in their work in the central province of Sofala, they had found that "secretaries of the Dynamising Groups of the ruling party are used to identify people who should benefit from the allowances."

MDM says this leads to the exclusion of people who are not members of Frelimo, according to the Eduardo Elias, at a session of the Mozambican parliament, the Assembly of the Republic, where the three parliamentary groups sought clarification from the government on matters that concern them.

The main program benefitting elderly people is the food allowance. Aimed at poor people who are unable to work, the beneficiaries are elderly citizens, disabled people and the chronically ill.

The Minister of Women's Affairs and Social Welfare, Iolanda Cintura, told the Assembly that, in the first half of this year, 231,214 people were receiving the food allowance – which is about 61 percent of the estimated potential beneficiaries.

The procedure for verifying candidates for the food allowance does not go through Dynamising Groups. These were grass roots structures set up by Frelimo at the time of independence in 1975, and which today are more or less defunct.

The criteria used, Cintura said, are the age, residence and income of the candidate. Age is verified through the candidate's identity card, voter card or other personal identification document.

Only men aged over 60 and women aged over 55 qualify for the allowance on grounds of age. Candidates must have lived in the place where they are making the request for at least six months.

This is verified through a declaration issued by a local administrative official such as a neighborhood secretary. The income criterion is more complex, and depends on calculating the monthly per capita income of the household.

To qualify, that income must not be more than one third of the monthly statutory minimum wage. The lowest of the current minimum wages is 2,075 meticais (about 77 U.S. dollars) a month. The eligibility threshold is thus 692 meticais.

In addition, those claiming the allowance on ground of disability or chronic illness must have their clinical condition confirmed by a health unit.

The candidate must present himself to the person in the community who liaises with the government's National Social Welfare Institute (INAS).

This liaison officer is known as "the Permanent". He or she then fills in a form on the candidate, which goes to the nearest INAS delegation, where its authenticity is checked.

Once selected, the candidate is informed about how much benefit he or she will receive, when and where, and is given a beneficiary' s food allowance card.

Editor: Xiong Tong

English.news.cn   2011-11-17 10:35:53 FeedbackPrintRSS
MAPUTO, Nov. 16 (Xinhua)