Daviz Mbepo Simango (7 February 1964 – 22 February 2021) was a
Mozambican politician who was Mayor of
Beira from 2003 to the day of his death in February 2021. He was also the President of the
Democratic Movement of Mozambique
The Democratic Movement of Mozambique ( pt, Movimento Democrático de Moçambique) is a political party in Mozambique. Founded on 6 March 2009, it is led by Daviz Simango, who is the Mayor of Beira. It formed after breaking with RENAMO
RE ...
(MDM). He was son of
Uria Timoteo Simango the first Vice-President 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 ...
and Celina Tapua Simango. He joined the main opposition party
RENAMO
RENAMO (from the Portuguese , ) is a Mozambican political party and militant group. The party was founded with the active sponsorship of the Rhodesian Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) in May 1977 from anti-communist dissidents oppose ...
in 1997 and became Mayor of
Beira in 2003 as its candidate. On March 6, 2009, he founded a new party, the Movimento Democrático de Moçambique, or MDM.
Early life
Daviz Simango was born in 1964 to parents
Uria Timoteo Simango and Celina Tapua Simango, and grew up in Beira, Mozambique. He was raised by relatives after his parents were executed in a reeducation camp in northern Mozambique for their status as dissidents within the Mozambican ruling party.
Mayor of Beira
Daviz Simango ran for and was elected mayor of Beira, a major Mozambican city on the Indian Ocean, in 2003. At the time he was a member of Mozambique's primary opposition party, RENAMO.
Simango was reelected mayor of Beira in 2009 as a member of his own political party, Movimento Democrático de Moçambique. He was re-elected as mayor every election cycle and served continually until his death in 2021.
After his first election, Simango faced obstruction from national ruling party FRELIMO, who refused to grant Simango's administration access to government buildings.
During his time as mayor, Simango oversaw a $120 million USD
climate adaptation
Climate change adaptation is the process of adjusting to current or expected effects of climate change.IPCC, 2022Annex II: Glossary öller, V., R. van Diemen, J.B.R. Matthews, C. Méndez, S. Semenov, J.S. Fuglestvedt, A. Reisinger (eds.) InClimat ...
project, involving a system of drainage canals and retaining basins to protect urban neighborhoods from rising sea levels. Simango was also mayor during
Cyclone Idai
Intense Tropical Cyclone Idai () was one of the worst tropical cyclones on record to affect Africa and the Southern Hemisphere. The long-lived storm caused catastrophic damage, and a humanitarian crisis in Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Malawi, lea ...
, an Indian Ocean cyclone that made landfall near Beira, killing hundreds and destroying a majority of the city's infrastructure. In the wake of the storm, Simango worked on the streets to establish emergency services in the city, and spoke out internationally against climate change.
Founding of MDM
In 2009, Simango left RENAMO after party leaders did not nominate him as the party's candidate for mayor. At this time, Daviz Simango founded a new political party, the
Movimento Democrático de Moçambique (Democratic Movement of Mozambique), popularly known as MDM. MDM is now the third major political party in Mozambique after the long term duopoly of ruling party
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 ...
and opposition party
RENAMO
RENAMO (from the Portuguese , ) is a Mozambican political party and militant group. The party was founded with the active sponsorship of the Rhodesian Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) in May 1977 from anti-communist dissidents oppose ...
.
2009 presidential election
Simango was the MDM candidate in the
28 October 2009 presidential election. He placed third with 8.6% of the total vote in the election.
2014 presidential election
Simango was the MDM candidate in the
15 October 2014 Mozambican presidential election. He placed third, with 6.4% of the vote.
2019 presidential election
Simango was the MDM candidate in the
15 October 2019 Mozambican presidential election. During the campaign period, ruling party supporters blocked Simango from campaigning in
Chokwe District in southern Mozambique. The election results were marred by accusations of widespread corruption and Simango placed third.
Death
Daviz Simango died on 22 February 2021, fifteen days after his birthday. He was 57 years old.
He flew to Johannesburg for medical care on 13 February 2021 and died nine days later of complications of COVID-19 and diabetes.
References
External links
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1964 births
2021 deaths
Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa
Mozambican engineers
Mayors of places in Mozambique
RENAMO politicians
Democratic Movement of Mozambique politicians
Mozambican Protestants
People from Beira, Mozambique
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