On March 16th and 17th, 2026, Prime Minister Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão continued the third leg of his work visits to municipalities as part of preparations for implementing local government. He travelled to Lautém and Baucau to monitor municipal services and assess the results of the Evaluation of Minimum Conditions for the establishment of municipal authorities. 
These visits are part of a series that began in February as part of the administrative decentralisation process outlined in Law No. 3/2016 on Local Government and Administrative Decentralisation. The programme has allowed the Government to assess, on the ground, the level of institutional, administrative, and financial preparedness of municipalities, as well as to identify needs to strengthen coordination, public service delivery, and local implementation capacity.
In Lospalos, in the municipality of Lautém, on March 16th, the Prime Minister engaged in a dialogue with municipal officials, local authorities, and community representatives. During the session, he emphasised that “local government is not about exercising power, but about developing the region and reducing poverty. Lautém has great potential for joint development, but we must work together. I call on the intellectuals of Lautém to return to help prepare and contribute to the development of their municipality,” stated the Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister highlighted that the municipality of Lautém has significant potential across sectors such as mineral resources, agriculture, tourism, fisheries, culture, and small-scale industries.
On the same day, the Head of Government officially opened the Lautém One-Stop Service Centre to make it easier for the public to access government services, including passports, identity cards, criminal record certificates, and other official documents. During the ceremony, a lifetime identity card was also handed to a person with a disability, a criminal record certificate was issued to a beneficiary, and transportation resources were provided to support the service’s operations.
While still in Lautém, the Prime Minister inaugurated the facilities of the Municipal Directorate of Transport and Communications in Lospalos Vila. The new facility aims to improve working conditions for staff and enhance service delivery to the public through the municipal directorate’s services.
The trip to Lautém also included attending the closing ceremony of the 2025 “Avô Nana” Lautém Rotating Cup, a community sports initiative that brought together young people from across the municipality. The Prime Minister associated it with fostering social interaction, friendship, and skill development among young people.
On March 17th, in the municipality of Baucau, the Prime Minister took part in a working session on the results of the Minimum Conditions Assessment and the municipality’s preparations to assume local governance. During the event, he argued that decentralisation requires services focused on the population and called for preparations based on accountability, strengthened financial management, procurement, monitoring, record-keeping, and accountability mechanisms.
During his visit to Baucau, the Prime Minister also handed over sports equipment—including balls and other gear—to the Municipal Authority at the Laga Administrative Post.
At the meetings held in Lautém and Baucau, the Minister of State Administration, Tomás do Rosário Cabral, presented technical recommendations based on the Minimum Conditions Assessment, including enhancing institutional capacity, ensuring adherence to administrative and financial procedures, updating municipal data, and improving mechanisms for transparency, planning, and monitoring.
These visits form part of the government’s direct oversight of the process of preparing municipalities for the implementation of local governance in 2027. The third leg of the visits will continue next week with a visit to the municipality of Viqueque.