Angolans continue to experience a “serious” political, social, and judicial crisis in 21 years of peace – UNITA

UNITA (National Union for the Total Independence of Angola) said today that, 21 years after the conquest of peace, Angolans continue to live a “serious” political, judicial, economic-financial, and social crisis characterized by the “regression” of the democratic rule of law indicators.

For UNITA (the largest opposition party), the current context of the country is also characterized by the “increase in poverty levels, the unemployment rate, especially among youth, and the “endemic and systematic corruption and the abuse and violation of human rights.”

The executive secretary of the Permanent Committee of UNITA’s Political Commission, in a statement alluding to the 21 years of peace and national reconciliation, says that it will continue to dialogue with the Government so that it fulfills the pending issues of the peace agreements.

The social insertion and dignification of all the ex-military and the devolution of the material inheritance of UNITA constitute the “pending” issues of the Peace Accords.

Angola marks today 21 years of peace in celebration of the complementary memorandum of peace signed in Luena, province of Moxico, on April 4, 2002, between the Angolan Government, led by the Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), and UNITA, which dictated the end of hostilities.

In this commemorative declaration, UNITA also urges citizens to “not relax” to defend their rights enshrined in the Constitution.

It notes that peace “has always been a primary objective” of Jonas Savimbi, the party’s founding leader.

The Permanent Committee of UNITA’s Political Commission also says it “firmly” believes in dialogue as the supreme way to solve people’s problems.

As in Bicesse in May 1991, in Lusaka in November 1994, in Luena in March 2002, and in Luanda in April 2002, UNITA “is available and will continue to take initiatives of dialogue with all national partners, to decant, by consensus, the best solutions for the great problems that Angola and the Angolans face”, it stresses.

“This is the case of true national reconciliation, of the consolidation and deepening of the democratic rule of law.”

“In this particular, UNITA appeals to all the children of Angola to unite energies with a view to the institutionalization of the municipalities still in 2023, which are the true guarantee of the development of the communities,” the statement adds.

The Namibe province hosted today the central act of the celebrations of 21 years of peace and national reconciliation in an act presided over by the Minister of State for Social Affairs, Dalva Ringote, representing the Angolan President, João Lourenço.

With information from Lusa