Mozambique’s government approved on Tuesday, 20 October, regulations governing the mandatory retirement of civil servants and state agents, establishing procedures for the cessation of duties upon reaching the age limit and the conditions under which service extensions may be granted. At the same session, the Cabinet announced the launch of the Central de Aquisições do Estado (CAE), a state procurement centre designed to strengthen transparency in public contracting and reduce the cost of government purchases.

The decisions were presented by Council of Ministers spokesperson Inocêncio Impissa at the close of the 30th ordinary session of the body, held in Maputo.

The regulations give effect to legislation approved in 2026 that raised the mandatory retirement age from 60 to 65 years. In certain special-regime career categories, service may be extended annually up to the age of 70 on grounds of operational necessity, subject to the civil servant’s agreement, a favourable assessment from the Medical Board, and authorisation from the minister responsible for the Public Service.

According to Impissa, it is the responsibility of the state to initiate any proposal for an extension, based on the needs of the public administration. “It is the state that must express this,” he said, as quoted by Lusa.

The spokesperson recalled that the government had initially estimated approximately 19,000 civil servants would be covered by the new legislation, and acknowledged that this figure may have since increased.

Central Procurement Unit

On public contracting, the CAE is intended to provide a single online platform through which tenders for the acquisition of capital goods and other higher-value items will be published. The system will allow all stages of the procurement process to be tracked, from the opening of a tender to the award of a contract.

Impissa said that greater transparency in procurement processes would facilitate public oversight and make it easier to identify instances of favouritism and corruption. The executive also expects to achieve cost reductions through the aggregation of purchases, which will enable the government to negotiate prices based on the volumes being acquired.

Further Decisions

At the same session, the Council of Ministers approved regulations for the law on state representation in the provinces, aimed at clarifying the responsibilities of provincial state secretaries within the context of decentralisation.

These officials will be required to monitor, within their respective territories, activities of the central government that have not been decentralised. The legislation also sets out the mechanisms for supervising state services at the provincial level.

The executive additionally approved the State Administration and Public Service Sector Strategy for 2026–35 and formally registered 1,444 geographic names of roads, territorial units, and sub-units across 14 municipalities.