Mozambican President Armando Guebuza on Friday carried his campaign for re-election to Chibabava district, in the central province of Sofala, the birthplace of his rival Afonso Dhlakama, leader of the former rebel movement Renamo.

Observers from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) have arrived in Mozambique to accompany the general and provincial elections that will be held on 28 October.

Finally, the two most dramatic court cases in Mozambican history, the murder of investigative journalist Carlos Cardoso in 2000, and the associated bank fraud that siphoned the equivalent of 14 million US dollars out of the Commercial Bank of Mozambique (BCM) in 1996, are over, and all that remains is for the convicted criminals to pay the compensation ordered by the courts.

The Mozambican police in Mutarara district, in the western province of Tete, have recovered a safe belonging to the District Health Directorate, which was stolen on the night of 25 September, reports Friday's issue of the Maputo daily "Noticias".

The Mozambican police in the central province of Manica have arrested ten more people on charges of sabotaging pylons and stealing electricity cables, reports Friday's issue of the daily 'Noticias'.

Production at the Marrupino tantalite mine in the central Mozambican province of Zambezia should resume by March 2010, according to a press release from the Ministry of Mineral Resources.

Eduardo Mulembue, chairperson of the Mozambican parliament, the Assembly of the Republic, and head of the election brigade of the ruling Frelimo Party in the western province of Tete, declared on Thursday that he is ever more confident of a Frelimo victory in the province in the general elections scheduled for 28 October.

President Armando Guebuza, who is seeking re-election in Mozambique, says his greatest achievement in the first term of office is "the fact that I was able to begin to persuade Mozambicans that it is possible to eradicate poverty."

Preparations for elections in Botswana, Namibia and Mozambique are now at an advanced stage with the respective electoral commissions announcing polling dates. Botswana and Mozambique will go to the polls on 16 and 28 October respectively, while Namibia will hold its elections on 27 and 28 November. Botswana is holding general elections to choose new parliamentarians. The Parliament will then act as an electoral college to choose the President. In its election manifesto, the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) led by President Seretse Khama Ian Khama has promised to continue improving the living standards of Batswana.

The ballot papers, ballot boxes and other voting materials for the general and provincial elections scheduled for 28 October are already in the provincial capitals in northern and central Mozambique, and the materials for the south of the country will arrive by Sunday, according to the Electoral Administration Technical Secretariat (STAE), the electoral branch of the Mozambican civil service.

Mozambique's main opposition party, Renamo, claimed in the western city of Tete on Thursday, that over 200 members of other parties have defected to it in recent days.

Polling station staff will be held responsible for any irregularity that takes place in the polling stations during the general and provincial elections scheduled for 28 October.

Mozambique's National Elections Commission (CNE) has allocated a subsidy earmarked for the now defunct Renamo-Electoral Union (RUE) coalition to two members of that coalition now standing in this month's general elections.

Two more minor parties on Thursday, at a joint press conference in Maputo, announced their "unconditional" support for the re-election of President Armando Guebuza for a second term of office.

An unspecified number of investors have submitted applications to the government's Investment Promotion Centre (CPI) to build cement factories in Mozambique.

Mozambican President Armando Guebuza declared on Wednesday that the achievements of his government over the past five years "are proof that we can do yet more".

Two unknown assailants attacked and stabbed prominent photo-journalist, Celeste MacArthur, outside her home in the central Mozambican city of Beira on Tuesday night, reports Thursday's issue of the Maputo daily "Noticias".

Mozambique's main opposition party, Renamo, has blamed the chairperson of the Mozambican parliament, Eduardo Mulembue, for alleged harassment of its members in the western province of Tete.

A group of 15 minor extra-parliamentary parties on Wednesday declared their support for the Mayor of Beira, and candidate of the Mozambique Democratic Movement (MDM), Daviz Simango, in his bid for the Presidency.

The Mozambican Environment Ministry is creating a multi-institutional technical team to try and identify solutions for the fight against erosion in the country's coastal areas.