Alberto Joaquim Chipande (born 10 October 1939) is a Mozambican politician and a long-time leading member of

FRELIMO FRELIMO (; from the Portuguese , ) is a democratic socialist political party in Mozambique. It is the dominant party in Mozambique and has won a majority of the seats in the Assembly of the Republic in every election since the country's firs ...

. He was the first

Defense Minister A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in s ...

of Mozambique upon independence in 1975, remaining in that post until at least 1986 under President

Samora Machel Samora Moisés Machel (29 September 1933 – 19 October 1986) was a Mozambican military commander and political leader. A socialist in the tradition of Marxism–Leninism, he served as the first President of Mozambique from the country's ...

. Chipande was also a member of the Political Bureau of FRELIMO, which ran the government for 18 days in late 1986 after the death of Machel. He is also a FRELIMO member of the Assembly of the Republic from the

Cabo Delgado Province Cabo Delgado is the northernmost province of Mozambique. It has an area of and a population of 2,320,261 (2017). As well as bordering Mtwara Region in the neighboring country of Tanzania, it borders the provinces of Nampula and Niassa. The r ...

. Chipande is credited with firing the first shots of the war for independence from

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

on 25 September 1964. When independence was achieved in 1975, he became Minister of Defense in the FRELIMO government. Upon the creation of the Council of State, a body tasked with advising the President, Chipande was one of four members appointed to the Council by President

Armando Guebuza Armando Emílio Guebuza (born 20 January 1943) is a Mozambican politician who was the third President of Mozambique from 2005 to 2015. Career Guebuza, born at Murrupula in Nampula Province, joined the Mozambique Liberation Front (FRELIMO) at ...

; he and the other members of the Council were sworn in on 23 December 2005. Chipande was re-elected to the FRELIMO Central Committee at the party's November 2006 congress. He was the top-scoring candidate in that election, receiving 1,138 votes from the 1,326 delegates.Joseph Hanlon
"News reports & clippings no. 102"
open.ac.uk, 17 November 2006.

References

Results of the 1999 legislative election in Mozambique by province
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chipande, Alberto Joaquim 1939 births Living people Members of the Assembly of the Republic (Mozambique) Mozambican military personnel Government ministers of Mozambique FRELIMO politicians