Frelimo, the ruling party, meets from today until Wednesday for its 12th Congress, the political force's main meeting, in which the current leader, Filipe Nyusi, is the only announced candidate for the presidency.

During the meeting in Matola, Maputo province, the new governing bodies will also be elected: the Central Committee, which will be responsible for choosing the Secretary General, the Political Commission, and the Verification Committee.

After the congress, the choice of a candidate for the 2024 presidential elections will pass through the new bodies.

The meeting, which starts today, will also discuss the seven theses approved during district and provincial conferences that Frelimo has held in recent months.

Also on the agenda is a revision of the party statutes.

The 12th Frelimo Congress is expected to be attended by around 1,500 delegates.

Filipe Nyusi was first elected as Frelimo leader by the party's Central Committee on March 29, 2015.

At the time, he won the party after being elected President of the Republic in October 2014, succeeding Armando Guebuza in both positions.

Guebuza had reached the limit of two terms as head of state and ended up also handing over the Frelimo chair to Nyusi (before the end of the five-year period for which he had been chosen as party leader) to avoid dispersion of power.

After two years, Nyusi was re-elected as the sole candidate for the party's command at the 11th Congress on September 29, 2017, and will now complete a full five-year term at the head of Frelimo.