Alfredo Gamito describes his experience as Mozambique's minister of state administration, which involved implementing a reform program to modernize, professionalize and decentralize the administration. He describes the steps that the ministry took to integrate individuals nominated by the opposition RENAMO party into the state administration, describing in particular the training that these new civil servants underwent. Gamito additionally discusses the process of determining which cities the government would designate as municipalities ahead of the country’s first municipal elections in 1998.
Case Study: Embracing the Power of Tradition: Decentralization in Mozambique, 1992-2000
Full Interview
Download MP3
Alfredo Gamito served as the minister of state administration in Mozambique from 1995 to 2000. In this position, he managed a broad reform agenda that included decentralizing the state administration as well as professionalizing the civil service. Gamito began his career in the private sector before being appointed as the secretary of the state cashew company. He also served as the vice minister of agriculture and the governor of Nampula province. At the time of this interview, Gamito was a member of the National Assembly,where he was chairman of the Commission on Public Administration, Local Power and the Mass Media.