Category: Corruption

President José Eduardo dos Santos has been transferring state resources to the private ownership of his family so openly that there is only one possible conclusion: Angola is the private property of the Dos Santos family. On 19 May 2014, Petroleum Minister José Botelho de Vasconcelos signed Executive Decree no. 159/14, which transferred 10 percent of the shares held by Sonangol P&P (the Research and Production subsidiary of the National Oil Company) in the oil exploration Bloc 4/05 to a company called Prodoil, owned by the president’s youngest sister, Marta dos Santos. The minister did this on the basis of “powers delegated by the President of the Republic …)”. As a result of the transfer, the exploration bloc’s shareholding now comprises Sonangol P&P (40%), Statoil (20%), Somoil (15%), Acrep (15%) e Prodoil (10%). The first time the president gave his sister a gift of oil exploration shares was on 27 October […]

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A recent Angolan government report uncovered a network of corruption within the Office for Immigration and Foreigners (known by its Portuguese acronym SME), such as issuing illegal work visas to the value of over US$90 million, not a cent of which entered state coffers. Having seen the report, the Minister of Interior, Ângelo de Barros Veiga Tavares, took disciplinary action against those responsible. Yet the national director and the deputy national director of SME, as well as other key players in the corrupt scheme, have not lost their jobs, and so far, no legal proceedings have been initiated.     An audit undertaken by the Ministry of Interior, beginning on November 6, 2013, revealed that a network of 14 people, led by the national director of SME, José Paulino da Silva, illegally issued over 14,000 work visas in just one year. According to the report, the network was charging between […]

Within a year, senior staff at the Angolan Office for Immigration and Foreigners (known by the Portuguese acronym SME) issued more than 14,000 work visas, at a unit cost of between US$5,000 and US$15,000, with absolutely no revenue entering state coffers.   The operation has earned over US$90 million for the corrupt officials and nothing for the State. This information is part of an audit of the SME conducted by the Inspectorate of the Ministry of the Interior (MININT), and delivered to the Minister of the Interior on February 6 past. Maka Angola saw the report. The investigation was opened on the November 6, 2013, by order of the Minister of the Interior, Ângelo de Barros Veiga Tavares, and its aim was to verify “how certain decisions were taken by the Ministry of the Interior, with regard to correcting irregularities, flaws and anomalies noticed in the investigation into the Office […]

África Monitor reported in its March 4 edition on two investments made recently in Portugal by the Angolan businessman António Mosquito: investments that were shown to be initiatives of Isabel dos Santos.   According to the publication, Isabel dos Santos chose “not to reveal her self” as the buyer of the purchase of 66.7 percent of the construction company Soares da Costa and of 27.5 percent of Controlinveste, a media conglomerate that owns the daily paper Diário de Notícias and the radio station TSF.   António Mosquito became chairman of Soares da Costa, and through his Grupo António Mosquito (GAM) invested €70 million (US$ 96.1 million) in the business.   Regarding the Controlinveste deal there is no information available about the size of the Angolan investment, which was made alongside an investment by Luís Montez, the son-in-law of the Portuguese President Aníbal Cavaco Silva.   The report by journalist Xavier […]

On January 6 2012 I laid a criminal complaint with the Attorney General of the Republic of Angola, against the presidential triumvirate that comprises the current vice-president Manuel Vicente, the minister of state and head of the Intelligence Bureau at the presidency (Casa de Segurança), General Manuel Hélder Vieira Dias Júnior “Kopelipa”, and the latter’s main advisor, General Leopoldino Fragoso do Nascimento “Dino”. The charge that I laid was of suspected illegal enrichment and abuse of power. The Attorney General’s office responded by initiating a preliminary inquiry, case number 06-A/2012-INQ, to verify the allegations about the trio’s business involvement that I made in my investigation “The Angolan Presidency: The Epicentre of Corruption”. As a result of that inquiry, the Attorney General’s Office acknowledged that the three men were shareholders in Grupo Aquattro. In less than three years, this group had come to dominate the Angolan economy, with holdings in sectors […]

The Angolan National Assembly will approve in the coming days the General State Accounts for 2011, despite the fact that no expenditure reports have yet been delivered on more than more than 70 per cent of what was budgeted for the year. The 2011 General State Budget included expenditures in the order of 4.1 trillion kwanzas (US$ 43.9 billion). According to the Law on the General State Budget (2010), “the General State Accounts bring together the accounts of all organs [of state and government] that are included in the General State Budget.” According to records that Maka Angola has had access to, not all sovereign bodies and ministries have presented their accounting reports, as it is required by law. The Presidency and the Supreme Court are the State bodies whose expenditure reports do not appear in the General State Accounts. Ironically, the Office of the Vice-President of the Republic, who […]