Search Results for: Luanda

Luanda Bans Demonstration to Free Political Prisoners

The Luanda Provincial Government has prohibited a protest by mothers, sisters and wives of 15 Angolan political prisoners to demand the release of their relatives. They had hoped to demonstrate on 28 August, the president’s birthday. They delivered a letter on Wednesday to the Luanda provincial governor, Graciano Domingos, informing him of their intention to hold a demonstration and vigil. The negative response from vice-governor Jovelina Imperial came in less than 24 hours, citing a clause in the law on demonstrations and meetings that states “parades and processions may not take place before 7 pm on a weekday”. The demonstration was scheduled for 3 pm on a Friday. The governor’s office added that holding a demonstration that defied a legal prohibition would be punishable as the crime of “disobedience” in term of the Penal Code. Reacting to the letter, Isabel Correira, the mother of political prisoner Osvaldo Caholo and one […]

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Police Detain 23 at Anti-Government Protest in Luanda

Angolan police detained 23 protestors, including an opposition official, near Luanda’s Largo de Independência on Thursday afternoon in connection with an attempted anti-government demonstration by the informal group of youths known as the Angolan Revolutionary Movement (ARM). A 2,000-strong police contingent, including armed police with machine guns and dogs and hundreds of state security agents, prevented the demonstration from occurring. At 12.30 p.m. police detained Manuel de Victória Pereira, who is both the national secretary of the Bloco Democrático party and the vice-president of the National Teachers’ Union, in the vicinity of Largo de Independência. Pereira was distributing party leaflets when he was detained. In a press statement, Bloco Democrático condemned the detention as a “contemptible” act that “confirms the dictatorial character of the current executive.” Police also seized Coque Mukuta, a Voice of America correspondent, for 30 minutes after he tried to check the name of a demonstrator who […]

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Angolan Police Detains 20 Demonstrators in Luanda

The Angolan National police arrested today some 20 youths, in Luanda, in a violent crackdown against anti-government protesters, who attempted to take to the streets to voice their discontent. Since 2011, small youth groups have been trying to emulate the Arab Spring in Angola, and their attempts have been met by disproportionate force by the police, pro-government militias, and the state security apparatus. The rapper Luaty Beirão and Adolfo Campos, one of the main figures in the Revolutionary Youth Movement, were arrested and taken to the Cazenga police station at about 9am. The two activists were among those who had gathered at the Santa Ana cemetery, the meeting point for the demonstration called by the movement, to protest against government repression. The protest was intended to put pressure on José Eduardo dos Santos’s government to make a public statement about the kidnapping, almost a year ago, of two activists, Alves […]

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Newborn Dies of Neglect at Luanda Hospital

Groaning with the pains of labor, Florinda Domingos writhed on the ground in the parking lot at the Augusto N’gangula Maternity and Pediatric Hospital in Luanda on the night of September 9. Bystanders called for the medical team to come and attend to the woman in labor, who had been ordered out of the hospital waiting room by guards acting on the orders of the hospital staff. Her family members and other patients’ relatives also called frantically on the hospital personnel, who were ignoring calls for help. Ms. Domingos’s sister-in-law, Flora Rosita, told Maka Angola that Florinda “was thrown out of the waiting room by the guards because the doctors said she was only permitted to enter the waiting room at midnight.” Cândida Nimila, another sister-in-law, explained that the hospital staff had ordered that Ms. Domingos receive attention only at midnight. Seven months pregnant, she had gone into labor prematurely. […]

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Demobilized Soldiers Protest in Luanda

Up to 3,000 demobilized soldiers staged a surprising protest today, in the capital Luanda, marching towards the presidential palace. They went to claim disability pensions and the dues owed to them for years of military service. Initially, the group departed at around 9 am from the general headquarters of the Angolan Armed Forces (FAA), and walked almost three kilometers to the gates of the Ministry of Defense, which is just a few hundred meters from the presidential palace. With remarkable organizational and tactical skills, the former soldiers pushed through three barriers strongly manned by the presidential guard and riot police, and fought off the police batons and the canine brigade with kicks. At least two protesters were reported injured by the dogs. For up to an hour, a standoff ensued in front of the Ministry of Defense, where the presidential guard, the riot police, the canine brigade, strongly armed military […]

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Felon Appointed as Supreme Court Justice of Angola

The unprecedented appointment of a convicted criminal to the Angolan Supreme Court – in blatant contravention of the law – has sparked a formal complaint to the country’s Attorney-General to trigger a full investigation into the judicial appointment process as well as any improper interference by President João Lourenço. The Honorable Attorney General of the Republic of Angola Subject: Submission concerning the illegal acts perpetrated by the Superior Council of the Judiciary and the President of the Republic of Angola Rafael Marques de Morais, an Angolan national citizen bearer of ID Number [redacted], residing at [redacted], Luanda, based on the following facts, informs the Attorney General of the Republic that the appointment of Carlos Alberto Cavuquila as Justice of the Supreme Court is illegal, a threat to the constitutional order and rule of law, and, therefore, should be annulled. Cavuquila’s appointment is in clear violation of Article 41, paragraph 1, c) of […]

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All the President’s Friends: Who Audits Angola’s Chief Auditor?

Yet more evidence has reached Maka Angola that the Angolan President’s vow to end corruption has continued to falter. Maka has already revealed at length how Exalgina Gambôa, the head of the Court of Accounts of Angola’s national audit office, had embezzled four million dollars from the court’s organizational budget to purchase luxury furnishings for her home. New information has come to light showing that the court cannot afford to send its accountants around the country to audit government spending in the provinces because their travel budget was spent on luxury flights for the three Gambôa offspring. President João Lourenço’s promise to tackle Angola’s kleptocratic culture of corruption has stuttered for a while. His campaign has so far failed not just on account of his narrow focus on the fortunes of his predecessor’s children but due to his inability to call out officials close to the current leadership for their […]

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US Oil Giant Chevron and Hazardous Pollution in Angola

Maka Angola has learned that the Angolan government has extended an exemption to its environmental protection policy to allow the US oil company Chevron to dump tons of hazardous oil waste directly into ocean shallows near the coast of Cabinda, its northern enclave. Marine experts describe the move as “an incomprehensible act” and are calling on President João Lourenço to enforce the law and ensure ALL foreign companies comply with the zero-discharge policy. A report on the dumping of oil-contaminated drill cuttings from offshore oil platforms along Angola’s northern coastline, seen by Maka Angola,says this practice, banned in most parts of the world, constitutes a major threat to marine life and ecosystems. The adverse impact of large amounts of pollutants on marine life, the eventual impact on coastlines and the potential hazard to human health, were fundamental reasons for the adoption of a zero-waste policy by Angola going back to […]

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Angola Elections 2022: What Next for the Opposition?

Attempts by Angola’s opposition parties to challenge the result of last month’s elections in the Constitutional Court (Tribunal Constitucional) have faltered, with just a week remaining before the official swearing-in of the MPLA’s João Lourenço as President for a second term. The official election results announced by the National Electoral Commission (Comissão Nacional Eleitoral, CNE) declared victory for the MPLA with 51% of the vote, with UNITA second on 43% – an outcome that reflected voters’ appetite for change. So where does UNITA go from here and how best can it capitalize on the public mood? ——————————– Provided Angola’s Constitutional Court certifies the election result, the country’s next President will be sworn in on September 15th. In all likelihood, that will once again be the MPLA candidate, João Lourenço, who faces an uphill battle after the significant setbacks in this election for which many in the party blame him directly. […]

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Angola Elections 2022: Trouble Ahead?

Angola’s 2022 election seemed to go well. International observers dubbed the poll ‘free and fair’ and the official election organizer, the Comissão Nacional Eleitoral (CNE), declared the MPLA the victor with just over 51% of total votes cast. This official result was immediately challenged by the main opposition party, UNITA, amid allegations of inconsistencies in the count and procedural irregularities by the CNE itself. The situation risks undermining the all-too-recent gains in democratic freedoms and civil liberties, with opposition supporters taking to the streets to express their anger, feeling cheated of the change they desperately wanted. ————— When on August 29th the CNE announced the official election result, awarding victory to the ruling MPLA, it was immediately challenged by UNITA on the grounds of alleged inconsistencies between the certified polling station tallies and the final count given by the CNE. Initially, the main opposition, UNITA seemed to suggest the numbers […]

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