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Since the 1st of January 2010, the local government of the city of Maputo, capital of Mozambique, now have effective administrative control over an important part of the educational, public health, cultural and economic sectors of its city. Last 22 December the municipal council of the city and the Mozambican central government signed a series of agreements on the implementation of Decree 33/2006 of 30 August 2006 regulating the transfer of powers and competences from the central government to local governments.

According to those agreements, the municipality of Maputo will henceforth have total administrative control over:

- Education sector: more than 5000 public servants including teaching and non-teaching staff, and more than 150 public and private primary schools.

- Public health sector: 30 hospitals comprising more than 500 civil servants (doctors, nurses, technical and administrative staff).

-Economic sector: 787 commercial and micro-industrial businesses.

-Trade fairs: more than 30 civil servants and tens of restaurants.

These agreements represent the first experience of implementing the 2006 Decree in the country. According to this Decree, the country's 43 municipalities will ultimately have full administrative control over large portions of the education, health, transport and economic sectors.

On the education sector, the Decree transfers to local governments the power, among others, to create, equip and administer primary and boarding schools, manage the staff of these schools, control and regulate the establishment of private primary schools, and participate in the designing of local curriculum. 

As for the economic sector (industry & trade), the Decree in its article 14 gives total power to local governments for the registration and taxation of micro-industries, small trades, and the informal sector. Local governments are equally in charge of roads, public transport, hygiene and cleanliness within their locality.

According to Article 5 of the Decree, the transfer of these power and competences is done alongside the transfer of financial, human and patrimonial resources previously earmarked for these services. On this count, the Mayor of Maputo stated that with the Agreements of 22 December, " the civil servants and institutions which pass under the management of the municipal council come with their own resources, hence we will not have to do a lot of efforts in terms of finding resources, but we will have to work hard to realise the objectives of these agreements which are: to better serve the inhabitants of the municipality"

The Mozambican government initially undertook to implement this Decree within 3 years. This deadline has since been extended by two years; reason advanced being that the municipalities have not yet initiated the processes required for the implementation of the Decree in their locality. The voluntarist and progressive character of the Decree should be noted. It is the responsibility of each municipality to prove that it has the capacities required and thereafter request the transfer of the totality or part of the powers granted by the Decree. The transfer is effected through the signing of agreement between the central government and the municipality concerned like those of Maputo last 22 December

 See Mozambican laws on decentralisation.

Some press articles on the subject:

_ A partir do próximo ano: Município de Maputo passa a gerir escolas e postos de saúde 
_Cidade de Maputo avança na transferência de competências.