Category: Elections

Angola: The Stolen Elections

Something has happened with the Angolan elections of August 23 that may well be a first in Africa, if not universally. The spokesperson of the National Electoral Commission (CNE) yesterday announced “preliminary results” of the general elections when votes had not been tallied at municipal, provincial, or national levels. The CNE official simply read a statement saying that the ruling MPLA, in power for the last 42 years, had won the elections by 64.57%, a landslide. According to the official, the main opposition UNITA trailed behind with 24.04%, the coalition CASA-CE came in third with 8.56%, while three other parties split the remainder of the votes. With the 63% of the votes the CNE claims to have been counted, it has already gone ahead to allocate the 220 parliamentary seats, giving the ruling MPLA a two-thirds majority with 154 seats. After the public’s disbelief, CNE lowered MPLA’s majority to 61.10% […]

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Elections: MPLA Majority Hangs in the Balance

Of the more than 1.1 million votes already counted, the ruling MPLA has 51%, followed by UNITA with 36% and CASA-CE with 11%. These results reflect a parallel count carried out by UNITA based on official copies that it has obtained of the results posted by individual polling stations. Half of the votes already counted are in Luanda. In the capital city the MPLA and UNITA are neck-and-neck with 40% each, followed by CASA-CE with 13.6%. These Luanda results do not include the most populous districts, Viana and Cacuaco, where the opposition is strongest. So far, the count from these districts suggests that UNITA is heading for a large majority. Maka Angola has learned that the National Electoral Commission (CNE) has stopped releasing provisional results, on the orders of the President of the Republic. The MPLA has expressed surprise at the results. If the trend of increasing opposition votes continues, […]

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Chopper Crashes While Delivering Election Kits

The crew and ten passengers aboard an Angolan Air Force helicopter, a Russian Mi-171Sh, have had a lucky escape, after it crashed on take-off. The accident happened in Caiundo, in the southeastern province of Kuando-Kubango. Witnesses say the crew and passengers walked away with minor injuries though the aircraft and its cargo exploded minutes later. Military sources attributed the crash to pilot error. One source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Maka Angola that the pilot failed to achieve sufficient height on take-off and as he maneuvered, he hit trees obscured by the dust cloud lifted by the helicopter blades. The aircraft was delivered in June last year as part of investment to modernize the Angolan Air Force. It was carrying five Air Force personnel, three election agents and two policemen. They had been delivering materials for the August 23 general election. Witnesses said the election kits were destroyed in […]

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Pre-Election Polls Shock Angola’s Ruling Party

A poll commissioned by the office of the Presidency suggests that while the ruling MPLA may still win this month’s general election, their approval rating has plummeted. An astonishing 91% of over 9,000 respondents say that the current MPLA leadership acts in its own interest, and not in the best interest of the state or the people at large. The poll, conducted by a Brazilian company, Sensus Pesquisa e Consultoria ,across 18 provinces, predicts a mere 38% of the vote will go to the MPLA, with 32% for UNITA and 26% for CASA-CE. While it’s a given that polls can be fallible and, at best, are only a barometer of the prevailing political weather, the figures reported by Sensus are telling, because the company had the full support of the Presidency to conduct its work. Mr José Eduardo dos Santos is both President of the Republic and of the ruling […]

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MPLA Gives Opposition a Beating

As Angola prepares for next year’s general election, reports are already emerging of acts of political violence. Representatives of opposition parties attempting to scrutinize the electoral registration process have alleged they were subjected to intimidation and violence in the village of Luremo, in the northeastern province of Lunda Norte. “Village chief Ngana Mussanga, who is an MPLA member, turned up with 20 young men wielding staves. They slapped my face, and then I was grabbed, thrown to the ground where they held me down by my hands and feet while the chief beat me around the head, and the back.” The victim, UNITA member Pedro Muiungulenu Zambicuari, says the incident took place on September 8. The UNITA man had been assigned to check the electoral registration process. “It was barely 8.30 in the morning when the village chief first showed up. He asked my name and where I was from. […]

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