Violence and Arson in Bié

By Edú Wañgo: Bié province has been experiencing an escalation in violence during the election campaign. On August 21, traditional community leader (soba) Arão Massanga Simão was beaten and struck on the head with a machete. He had allowed a UNITA flag to be hoisted in the village of Muyumba, which falls under his jurisdiction. Located in Sachenomuna commune, in the municipality of Cuemba, the village has more than 6,000 inhabitants, half of whom are on the electoral register. “At around 2pm, four National Police officers, armed with PKMs, came to my house looking for me. I did nothing. One of them hit me on the head with the butt of his rifle”, said headman Simão. On the journey from his house to the police station, a fifteen-minute walk, the community leader explained that he was hit repeatedly with batons by the police officers, and was also struck on the […]
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