Month: July 2014

Impulso: how Angola’s presidential family struck it lucky from the mining survey

The Angolan government last May embarked upon an aerial survey aimed at mapping mineral resources across the entire territory of Angola. Maka Angola here presents the first investigation into the three consortia that won the tenders for the National Geological Plan (PLANAGEO), with contracts valued at over US$300 million. The first investigation focuses on the consortium led by the Spanish company Impulso, in partnership with the Geological and Mining Institute of Spain (IGME) and the Portuguese National Laboratory of Energy and Geology (LNEG): this consortium has a contract worth US$115 million. The consortium is responsible for researching 37.5 percent of the national territory, an area of 470,000 square kilometres, over a five-year period. The area covers the provinces of Bié, Benguela, Huambo, Huíla, Namibe, Cunene and part of Cuango-Cubango and Kwanza-Sul. According to information put out by Impulso, it is in charge of managing the consortium. So what is suspicious […]

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General Zé Maria’s Partisan Plot to Destabilize the Army

For the last few months the head of Angola’s 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 government’s 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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