José Gama, activist for free speech and press freedom. José Patrocínio, director of Angolan NGO Omunga. Lucas Pedro, activist for free speech and press freedom. Luaty Beirão “Ikonoklasta”, rapper and activist.
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The governor of the southern province of Kwanza-Sul, General Eusébio de Brito Teixeira, 61 years old, has recently authorized on his own and for himself land for agricultural use and the construction of condominiums. Through a glaring scheme of self-dealing, the governor and his family have already grabbed over 30,000 hectares (over 300 square kilometers) of land in Kwanza-Sul. A high-ranking figure in military strategy, within the inner circle of presidential power, parallel to the FAA – Angolan Armed Forces, General Eusébio de Brito Teixeira also occupies the post of representative of the Intelligence Bureau of the President of the Republic for Southern Angola. “We will adhere to the MPLA’s program for government, which is to increase growth and improve distribution [of wealth]”, quoted the governor on his inauguration by president José Eduardo dos Santos, on September 29, 2012. Adhering to the MPLA’s program, throughout the year of 2013, the […]
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Full text of the 2014 Carlos Cardoso Memorial Lecture, delivered on November 4, 2014 at Wits University. First, I would like to share with you a personal experience I had with Carlos Cardoso, the great friend I never had the chance to meet personally. Back in 1999, when I was jailed in Angola for calling president Dos Santos a dictator and corrupt, Carlos Cardoso was instrumental in mobilizing lawyers, journalists and concerned Mozambicans to lend their support to me. Upon my release, we began a regular e-mail correspondence that went beyond my legal battles, conviction, political persecution and travel ban. We broadened the conversation on teaming up to chiefly expose the scourge of corruption in both our countries. We believed in conquering the public space for the freedoms of speech and of the press to take root. We made the struggle for that public space ours. While Carlos was breaking […]
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A complaint of pedophilia has been lodged with the Office of the Attorney General against the secretary of diamond-rich Cuango municipality, in the province of Lunda-Norte. The father of the victim – a girl of 13 at the time – is accusing the local public prosecutor of protecting the secretary, and the local head of the State Intelligence and Security Service (SINSE) of attempting to suppress the case. The background to the case In September of 2013, the municipal administration organized a food and drinks fair [politically known as cultural marathons throughout the country] in the town of Cuango. During the fair, one of those responsible for organizing the event, the secretary of the Cuango municipality, Cândido Daniel Sampaio,37, offered to buy ice cream for two cousins who were part of his prayer group in the Church of the Seventh Day Adventists. The ice cream vendor was a certain distance away, and Sampaio suggested that they drive there, accompanied by one of his colleagues. On the way, they took a detour and parked at the water treatment plant, […]
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A request for the acquisition of several thousand hectares of land in Kwanza-Sul province, in the name of the chief justice of the Angolan Constitutional Court, Rui Ferreira, has raised suspicions of illegal practice. In the documents, the judge appears as the representative of a private company. This is the story. On the remains of the crumbling wall of an overgrown colonial house, someone has written: “Welcome [poster printed with a photograph of President dos Santos] to Lonhe.” The commune, part of the Quibala municipality in Kwanza-Sul province, is a place where time has stood still for its inhabitants. The polite message on the wall is much appreciated by top Angolan public officials. According to documents obtained by Maka Angola, Chief Justice Rui Ferreira and two of his children have been fast-tracked in the process of acquiring a total of 24,812 hectares of land in Lonhe. The area is three […]
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The action plan for the electoral campaign of the ruling People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), which formally starts on July 31, contains strategies that need to be made plain for all to see, in the interests of peace, political stability, and the distinction between party and state. For the first phase of the campaign, MPLA defines the need to pay special attention “critical areas to ensure order and tranquillity among voters”. To this end, MPLA envisages to “instruct activists, sympathizers and friends of the MPLA and other voters not to take part in any actions that may suggest electoral impropriety, and to refrain from practising any kind of violence against other political parties or their activists.” It also underscores the need to “denounce political parties, civil society organizations and citizens who incite voters to violence, disturbance or electoral fraud.” The communications and security committee of MPLA’s electoral […]
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Angolan Vice-President Manuel Vicente is facing a criminal complaint over business dealings that are allegedly contrary to Angolan laws that govern the private affairs of the highest government officials. The case, brought by journalist and human rights defender Rafael Marques de Morais, refers in particular to Vicente’s role in China Sonangol International Holding, a majority Chinese-owned private company. Marques presented the complaint to the Angolan Attorney General on Thursday, August 8. The complaint calls on the authorities to initiate impeachment proceedings against Vicente. It cites Article 138 of the Angolan Constitution, which states that positions of Ministers of State, Ministers, Secretaries of State and Deputy Ministers are incompatible with “any administrative functions, management or any corporate position in companies and other purposes of an economic nature.” The complainant told Maka Angola that Manuel Vicente’s involvement with Chinese interests at a time when he was already vice-president-elect would cause him to […]
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For the last few months the head of Angolas Military Intelligence and Security Service (SISM), General António Zé Maria, has created a secret discussion group aimed at fostering a climate of instability within the Angolan Armed Forces (FAA), in such a way as to justify purges. This strategy is known as the purification of the FAA. The scheme also aims to divert attention away from the ever-deteriorating socio-economic situation of most Angolan citizens and the governments inability to deal with it. It also serves as a distraction from the uncertainty over when and how President dos Santos will relinquish power. Maka Angola has learnt from insiders that the other main participants in the discussion group are the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Patriotic Education, General Egídio de Sousa Santos ”Disciplina”, and Lieutenant-General João António Santana Lungo of the Security Studies Office within the Intelligence Bureau of the Presidency. […]
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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 presidents 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 blocs 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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Six children have been in detention since Thursday at the Luanda Provincial Criminal Investigation Directorate (DPIC), accused of setting alight a Toyota Corolla car. All of those detained are boys under 13 years old. Police from the Sambizanga Division seized them without warrant at 5h00 am on June 18 in Ngola Kiluange district. Police say they were acting on a complaint by the supposed owner of the car, who allegedly had credible evidence but who up to now has not been able to present it to DPIC. Family members of the detained boys say that the owner of the car in question was in the patrol car pointing out the houses to the police. The same man was in the police car when they came to get my son at 5am. It was he who showed them, said António Domingos, whose seven-year-old son Costa Domingos was the youngest of those […]
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