Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano on Thursday swore the country's new prime minister, Luisa Diogo, into office, and urged all other members of the government to give her their full support.

Chissano said that he had chosen Diogo for the job, because she had already displayed competence and a capacity of coordination in the succession of posts she has held since 1980 in the finance ministry.

Her career in finance culminated with the job of Planning and Finance Minister, a post she will continue to hold, in tandem with her new appointment. Chissano recalled that when he had first invited her into the government, in 1994, as Deputy Finance Minister, "she did not understand why she was being called to a job which for her was enormous. She had difficulty in accepting".

He recalled reading from her expression that she felt nervous and confused. But what determined his decision to bring her into the government, Chissano added, were "her competence, her youth, and the fact that she is a woman".

He stressed that Diogo did not accept government positions for the money. In the early 1990s she had been a World Bank programme officer, and he was sure that she would have earned a great deal more money if she had stayed with the World Bank. The current salary of the prime minister is 50 million meticais (about 2,000 US dollars) a month.

Chissano admitted that it would have been logical to appoint a new finance minister. But he said he did not want to make a major government reshuffle when general elections are less than a year away.

The nine months in which Diogo will be Prime Minister of this government "is not sufficient", said Chissano. But it was not a short time either, and it would be possible to achieve much.

He recalled that when he was prime minister of Mozambique's Transitional Government, that, too, was only for nine months (September 1974 to June 1975). In that period, it had proved possible to make all the preparations for the transfer of power from Portuguese to Mozambican hands, for the declaration of independence, and for drafting the country's first constitution. He thought that in nine months Diogo could "create new working methods useful for the country". All government members should support her, he urged, and nobody should lament that he or she did not get the job instead. For her part, Diogo said she was proud of the trust that the head of state had placed in her, but recognised that she would now be facing many new challenges.
She thought the secret of success lay in coordination, in timely exchange of information, and in following very clear goals.
Diogo noted that, including her, there are only three female prime ministers in Africa, and that throughout the world it is rare to find a woman holding this position. Mozambican women were making headway, she added, but there was still a long journey ahead of them.

Reported by Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique (Maputo)

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