President dos Santos says Savimbi in 'very difficult' situation

The Presidents of Angola and Namibia, José Eduardo dos Santos and Sam Nujoma, discussed bilateral relations and the conflict in DR Congo during a brief visit to Angola by the Namibian leader on 27 January.

At a joint press conference, President dos Santos said that military action was continuing and that Savimbi and his remaining forces were in a very difficult situation.

'I would even say a critical situation,' he said. He went on to warn against triumphalism, adding that peace should be achieved by all possible means. 'The war has not yet ended,' the President said. 'We should have no illusions, because Savimbi has no intention of stopping the war.'

President Nujoma hailed the Angolan government's efforts to restore peace and national reconciliation in the country. Saying he had heard that all those who presented themselves to government authorities were welcomed, he said that Savimbi's Unita should do the same thing, 'so that we can all concentrate on the economic development of the region'.

SADC wants Savimbi included on list of international terrorists

Speaking in Blantyre, Malawi, on 14 January, at a meeting of heads of state and government of SADC countries, President José Eduardo dos Santos said that all the SADC countries had taken a firm and unequivocal position on terrorism.

'We are against terrorism in all its manifestations, because we know better than anyone what it has meant and still means to some of our countries as the cause of the deaths of innocent civilians and political, economic and social destabilisation. We welcome the shared points of view and the combined energy shown in the assessment of this phenomenon, as clearly established at the meeting of our ministers recently held in Luanda. Our shared past of struggle for the freedom of peoples, national independence, equality and development, as well as respect for democracy and for fundamental human rights is the greatest legacy that we, the current leaders, can pass on to future generations.'

At a meeting of the committee of ministers for the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Organisation held in Luanda in December, the ministers had 'expressed concern at the continued existence of offices, websites, publications and other facilities in support of Unita-Savimbi round the world'. They recommended 'the inclusion of Unita-Savimbi on the list of terrorist organisations, as well as the strict fulfilment of UNSC sanctions against Unita-Savimbi concerning the freezing of the movement's bank accounts'.

The Blantyre meeting also recommended that Savimbi and his group should be included on the list of international terrorists. João Miranda, Angola's Minister for External Relations, said the African Union (former OAU) and the United Nations would be notified of this decision by SADC heads of state.

He said the summit had also praised the Angolan government's efforts not only to put an end to the war, but in the national reconciliation process.

Government satisfied with impact of sanctions

The government on 15 January reaffirmed its satisfaction with the impact that UN sanctions were having on the UN rebel movement and praised the commitment of the UN Security Council's

Mechanism for monitoring sanctions.

Minister for External Relations João Miranda said this after a meeting with the chairman of the Mechanism, Juan Larrain, Chile's Ambassador to the UN, in Luanda for a four-day visit.

Mr. Miranda went on the say that the effects of the sanctions were clear to all, because 'today Jonas Savimbi is doomed to total despair', with no alternative but to renounce his military option. Otherwise, sanctions would be maintained until the peace process was clearly irreversible,' he added.

He said there had been a marked decrease in external support for Savimbi, and even countries that continued to maintain contacts with him no longer did to the 'dangerous' extent they had recently. Sanctions were therefore having a decisive impact on external support, while the Angolan government was working with those countries to ensure they took 'a stance in keeping with universal principles'

Mr. Miranda said Larrain had given him a detailed account of steps the Portuguese government had been taking to eliminate the 'very important propaganda base' in Portugal for Savimbi's followers.

Larrain expressed the hope that by the end of his mandate next April, Security Council sanctions would be fully respected and achieve the goal for which they had been imposed, which was peace in Angola.

After a meeting with Minister of Defence Kundy Paihama and chief of general staff General Armando da Cruz Neto, Juan Larrain said he had no doubt that the application of sanctions against Jonas Savimbi's organisation was continuing to reduce its military capability. On the possible lifting of sanctions, he said this was mere speculation and that the most recent Security Council statements on the issue were very clear.

Minister of the Interior Fernando da Piedade dos Santos 'Nandó', at a meeting with Larrain, commended the commitment of the Mechanism, saying it had contributed positively to the process of achieving peace in Angola.

Sanctions, he said, had also facilitated the process of national reconciliation, 'because they are aimed at drawing the attention of Savimbi and his followers to the fact that it is preferable to engage
Those conditions, he added, were the disarming and complete demobilisation of Unita's military forces.

'If Savimbi accepts this principle, there will be nothing to prevent dialogue with a view to completing the Lusaka Protocol,' he said.

Bishop accuses members of religious group of supporting war

Bishop Emílio de Carvalho said in Luanda on 31 January that some people linked with the Inter-Ecclesiastical Committee for Peace in Angola, Coiepa, supported the war.

Speaking on Angolan National Radio, he said he was sceptical about the positive contribution that organisation could make in respect of the armed conflict, owing to its true subversive
When it was founded, he continued, its purpose was not to mediate conflicts but to unite the churches to contribute to peace.

The Bishop, from the United Methodist Church of Angola, said Coiepa's activities would fail and that what it should be doing was to promote equality between the Catholic Church and other religions.

Angola promoting peace in Congo

President Joseph Kabila of DR Congo visited Angola on 11 January and left the same day after a private meeting at which President José Eduardo dos Santos briefed him on his meetings aimed at promoting peace in Congo.

Addressing a press conference on 9 January at the end of a 48-hour visit to Angola by President Paul Kagame of Rwanda, President dos Santos stressed the need to achieve peace in Central Africa as soon as possible and expressed the wish to reactivate bilateral relations with Rwanda in every possible area. The two presidents, in a joint communiqué, 'noted with satisfaction the progress so far made in preparing for inter-Congolese dialogue' and called on all concerned to show greater commitment to the rapid and full implementation of the Lusaka ceasefire. The communiqué further stated that the purpose of President Kagame's visit was to 'restore confidence and to normalise political relations between Angola and Rwanda, as well as between the countries adjacent to DR Congo.'

On 10 January, President dos Santos received Amama Mbabazi, the Ugandan Defence Minister, who gave him a message from President Yoweri Musseveni. Issues discussed centred on the need to restore peace in DR Congo and to normalise relations between Angola and Uganda.
All the countries involved in the conflict in DR Congo were represented at the SADC summit on 14 January in Blantyre, Malawi, at which the wars in the region were discussed.

Standing commission approves administrative decentralisation plan

Meeting in Luanda on 23 January, the standing commission of the Council of Ministers approved the broad lines of a strategic plan for administrative devolution and decentralisation and recommended that a seminar be held on the subject. A communiqué explained that a national seminar would enable civil society to take part in developing and clarifying the plan.

The communiqué said the plan dealt with such aspects as the military situation, the process of approving the new constitution and the basic principles of administrative organisa-tion. It also covered the development of local administration, the stages of administrative decentralisation and the institutionalisation of local governments, and support programmes for administrative devolution and decentralisation.

It recognised the need to implement a strategic devolution and decentralisation plan to respond to central issues related to political, economic and social reforms, notably in respect of strengthening democracy, programming and managing public investment and land use.

Savimbi's personal possessions captured

It was revealed on 21 January that the Angolan Armed Forces, FAA, had captured a transistor radio, a hunting rifle and Jonas Savimbi's military insignia. They were taken after an attack on Savimbi's own military column near the municipality of Cassamba, in central Moxico Province.
Shown on Angolan television, the information was confirmed by high-ranking Unita officers who were captured by the government a week earlier. General Epalanga, once head of the rebel security services in Jamba, recognised the rifle.

He said former South African President P W Botha had given it to Savimbi.

'It's a rifle used to hunt elephants. I recognise it from this patch here. It's not a simple patch. It's ivory inlaid by us. We did this work in a workshop in Jamba,' he said.
Starting in December, officers and civilians from Savimbi's personal column started to present themselves to FAA, something that had never happened before.

'FAA tightened the encirclement and succeeded in reaching Savimbi's column,' confirmed Brigadier Lulú, who had headed the column's vanguard force. He said the column consisted of about 400 people, only 150 of whom were soldiers. They stayed at a distance of about five kilometres from the central nucleus, in which the officers, personal guard and Savimbi himself were.

Also interviewed in the programme was Colonel Calado, who had headed the rearguard force. He said Savimbi's column had been dismembered in the attack.

'In the section where I was there were 15 men. Two nights before I left there were only seven left. The others had deserted,' he said.

'Savimbi losing credibility among his troops'

A lieutenant, a candidate officer and a second lieutenant from Savimbi's personal guard were also interviewed on TV on 21 January. Abílio Daniel, Artur Pedro and Santo Pires Ricardo said that only Savimbi still had any energy, because the little there was in the bush went to him. Everyone, they said, was tired and hungry.

Thin, ragged and barefoot, they said, as Savimbi's protectors they had to carry his personal belongings and serve as a human shield for him.

'Whenever he moves we form a cordon,' said Abílio Daniel. 'In front, behind and on the sides. Even in the dense bush he only moves with a cordon.'

The former guards also said that whenever FAA was near the rebel leader would flee. 'Really flee; run away so as not to be caught,' said Artur Pedro.

They said Paulo Lukamba Gato, secretary-general of Unita, had fallen into disgrace and been removed from Savimbi's column. As for Alcides Sakala, responsible for foreign affairs, they did not believe he could stand life in the bush much longer.

'Alcides Sakala's situation is difficult. He can't walk and he can no longer coordinate his ideas,' said Artur Pedro.

The state of health of Unita vice-president António Dembo was also critical, he said.
The three had given themselves up on 3 January after escaping from Savimbi's escort column during a FAA attack on 17 December last year.

In an earlier radio interview in Luena, capital of Moxico Province, they said the rebel leader was losing credibility among his troops, owing to the collapse of the small group around him.

They confirmed that Savimbi was in the bush in the east, where he covered long distances on foot, and said he insisted he would not go abroad, but would stay where there was bush permitting manoeuvres. His group, they said, were armed with R-4s, PKMs and RPG-7s.

Savimbi, they said, had ordered horses to be bought in neighbouring Zambia, but they had not arrived by the time when he started to flee.

'Savimbi is a big liar who has fooled a lot of people and many of his friends don't like him any more,' said Abílio Daniel.

He recalled his leader's delaying tactics in 1994/98, when the Lusaka Protocol was signed and Savimbi went on buying military material so as to go back to war.

'The Lusaka Protocol came and we all thought we were going to go into the cities and not leave again, but Savimbi kept saying that we will go into the cities and then we'll continue the war again,' he said. 'While the Protocol was being negotiated, Savimbi was buying arms again and in 1998 the war started in Bié and Huambo, until in 1999 we were forced to leave Andulo and Bailundo. We went into the bush and he went on lying to us.'

He said mushrooms were the main food of Savimbi's group, who lacked all such essentials as salt, oil, rice, soap, clothing and medicines.

Anyone who was too weak to go on walking was killed, so as not to be caught and give information to government forces. This had happened to many of his own colleagues.

General Epalanga says Savimbi ordered murder of padre in Jamba

General Samuel Martinho Epalanga, former head of Unita's security services, interviewed by National Radio of Angola, said Savimbi had ordered the killing of Padre Camilo, who had written Unita's 'anthem'. He said Savimbi had felt uncomfortable with Padre Camilo, because he was very intelligent and he thought he was arrogant.

'This is why Savimbi ordered that he be murdered,' said Epalanga. He also confirmed the killing, on the orders of the terrorist leader, of such Unita officials as Jorge Sangumba, Waldemar Pires, Tito Chingunji, Wilson dos Santos, Vakulukuta and others.

Epalanga went on to say that at the last Unita conference Savimbi had expressed regret for having Sangumba killed, because he said he was a very intelligent person with a great facility for analysing difficult situations.

'This he said publicly. All the people who attended Unita's 16th conference heard those words,' Epalanga said. He added that the 38 years he had spent in the bush had been time wasted.

Ever more deserters from Savimbi's Unita

Sixty-eight soldiers from Savimbi's forces gave themselves up to FAA in Malanje Province in mid-January.

The Jornal de Angola reported on 21 January that 3,896 Unita troops and 514,555 civilians had presented themselves to government authorities in the course of 2001. A thousand of the military men had already been integrated in FAA, 161 in the police and 39 in the defence of communities, while the remainder had been reintegrated in social sectors in their home areas and were working in such fields as health and education.

The uncle and aunt of former Unita general Altino Sapalalo Bock presented themselves to the authorities in Waco Cungo, Kwanza Norte Province, in early January, as a consequence of offensives by the Angolan Armed Forces, FAA, near the source of the Curinge River.

Mr. Valmor and Mrs Rosa Salumbo said they were siblings of Bock's mother. Bock was one of the Unita officials killed on Savimbi's orders.

Mr. Valmor Salumbo said he had escaped from the bush to avoid suffering the same fate as his nephew.

It was revealed on 9 January that two of Savimbi's high-ranking officers had recently been captured in Moxico Province.

They were General Samuel Martinho Epalanga, a member of Savimbi's military security services, and Brigadier Domingos Sopite, head of Unita communications.

FAA general staff headquarters had earlier announced the dismemberment of Savimbi's command structure and the capture of three generals, three brigadiers and four colonels.

Ana Miraldina Chivukuvuku, the sister of Unita deputy Abel Chivukuvuku, who deserted the rebel organisation in Moxico Province, was presented to the press in Luena on 8 January.

Ana Chivukuvuku, 28, said she had left the bush on 31 December and went to Zambia, where she had gone to the Angolan Embassy. Then she had gone to Luena, capital of Moxico Province.

She, who had been in Unita since childhood, compared life in the bush to the Neolithic era.

She said she had lived in what was known as Region 57 in Moxico with her sister Albertina Nabimbi Chivukuvuku, the wife of the former Unita representative in Kinshasa.

It was reported on 8 January that 62 of Savimbi's troops had surrendered in Huambo Province between November 2201 and January 2002.

During the same period, 8,631 civilians had also presented themselves to government authorities in various parts of the province.

Terrorist war in sharp decline

Forty-eight Unita rebel troops were captured between 1 and 28 January during operations in the municipality of Cambundi Catembo, Malanje Province. Major Delfim Colarinho, spokesman of the Malanje military grouping, said, 'With the victories achieved, we believe basic conditions have been created for the population to feel free to work in the fields.'

It was revealed on 28 January that 45 bodies had been found in a mass grave discovered by traditional authorities in the village of Chicumbi, 135km north of the city of Kuito, Bié Province. It was found during a search for arms caches by the Angolan Armed Forces, FAA, assisted by the population.

A local source said the bodies were of people murdered by Savimbi's men before fleeing because of the FAA offensive. Among the dead, the source said, were traditional leaders, MPLA members and young people who had run away to avoid joining Unita's terrorist ranks.

Angop reported on 24 January that an isolated group of Savimbi's men had murdered a woman and kidnapped four civilians near Bocoio, 105km from the city of Benguela. The woman, Canumbi Tozé, 22, was the mother of a ten-month-old baby. The rebels had attacked the group of peasants in their fields.

Lieutenant Colonel João Alberto said that in recent mopping-up operations in the Bocoio area some of Savimbi's bases had been destroyed. The rebels' military and logistical capability had been substantially reduced, he said, and they were now looting, kidnapping and killing innocent people.

Government forces captured six Unita rebels and freed 400 civilians from rebel captivity in operations, on 22 January, in which they took back the commune of Cruzeiro, north of the city of Huambo. Captain Alves Duila, the local FAA commander, said another 35 Unita terrorists gave themselves up. FAA control of Cruzeiro permitted the free movement of people on the road between Londuimbali, Huambo, and Wako Cungo, Kwanza Sul.

FAA repulsed a Savimbist attack on Caxito, Bengo Province, on the night of 21 January. The attackers, led by General Apolo, were driven into Kwanza Norte Province.

Lieutenant General José Cordeiro Baptista 'Ngueto', commander of the 7th grouping in the Bengo military region, said, 'The terrorist group tried to create panic in Caxito, thinking they could easily reach the town.' As they advanced, he continued, the enemy came up against a forward post of the national police in the Paranhos area, north of the town, at 11pm. Owing to the prompt intervention of FAA, order and security were restored an hour later. Vitor Inaculo, national police commander in Bengo, said, 'Judging by the blood stains on the enemy's retreat route, many were wounded.'

At least 48 Unita rebels were killed on the southern military front during mopping-up operations in the week ending 20 January. Nine rebels were captured and another 86 gave themselves up. The southern military region comprises the provinces of Huíla, Namibe and Cunene.

Savimbi's armed group killed three peasants in the village of Chipupulu, 50km east of Kuito, Bié Province, on 14 January. The victims were on their way to their fields to get food when the terrorists attacked, also seizing farm implements and other goods.

Three people were killed and six wounded on 9 January in a rebel attack on two civilian vehicles on the Caxito-Bula Atumba road in Bengo Province. A police source in Caxito said the attackers looted all the goods in the vehicles.

'War has undermined economic stabilisation efforts'

The war has seriously affected efforts to stabilise the economy, according to Eduardo Severim de Morais, Deputy Minister of Planning. He was addressing a seminar in Luanda on 23 January on the consultation process in the poverty reduction strategy

Stating that the government had pursued a policy aimed at promoting economic and political stability to ensure development, he said the effects of war had had serious repercussions on poverty levels. According to the most recent survey on family income and expenditure, he added, the rate of global poverty had affected almost 70 percent of the population.

In order to face up to this situation, the government had decided last year to concentrate efforts on drawing up a poverty reduction strategy aimed at restoring macro-economic balance, sustained and balanced growth, the integration of the economy into the regional and global markets and fair revenue distribution.

Severim de Morais added that on the basis of studies made on poverty in Angola, a preliminary document was being produced that sought to characterise the situation and set out the objectives to be pursued. A problem with the studies, he said, was that they were not national in scope, owing to the insecurity at the time.

The Deputy Minister said that notwithstanding the constraints, a series of factors was used to characterise poverty, notably poverty rates, human development, family consumption, education, health, housing, water, basic sanitation and employment. Provinces, target groups and obstacles to poverty reduction had been identified, he said.

Government recommends working group to promote rural trade

Meeting in Luanda on 23 January, the standing commission of the Council of Ministers recommended the setting up of a multi-ministerial working group to make an in-depth study of proposed measures to promote rural trade.

The commission also recommended that the Council of Ministers approve Angola's accession to the SADC trade protocol, so as to strengthen the involvement of the Angolan economy in the region and the benefits of a market of about 200 million people.

It approved a Norwegian donation of US$690,000 for economic and social projects in Namibe, Huíla and Benguela provinces.

The standing commission further approved the broad lines and priorities of national statistical activity in the period 2002- 2006, setting out action to be taken by the government with a view to establishing an efficient system of statistical data to meet the need for the official information required by public and private bodies.

Negotiations with IMF and World Bank going well'

A government delegation headed by Minister of Finance Júlio Bessa arrived in Washington on 9 January for talks with the International Monetary Fund and World Bank on technical assistance to the government and Angola's economic prospects in 2002, among other issues.

Mr. Aguinaldo Jaime, governor of the National Bank of Angola, a member of the delegation, gave an interview to National Radio of Angola on 11 January in which he spoke of relations between the government, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. He said that contrary to some press reports, the negotiations were going well.

'The government is implementing the programme, it knows where it is going and it is rigorously fulfilling its commitments,' he said. 'The audit shows that resources are where they should be and are being used where they should be used.'

He said the negotiations were taking place in a cordial, frank and open climate and that they had discussed the government's macro-economic policy, the fiscal and monetary accounts and the balance of payments.

'We have also talked about the institutional relationship between the Ministry of Finance, the National Bank of Angola and Sonangol,' he said. 'And we have spoken, with great emphasis, of measures of transparency, especially auditing, the BNA accounts and the oil sector diagnosis.'

Asked whether this had been well received, Jaime replied that the IMF and World Bank were pleased to note that the government was firmly committed to continue to implement its programme of reforms and this would open new prospects for relations between the government and those institutions.

'For the Angolan delegation this is very positive. There have been lots of reports, lots of speculation in the press. Some unfounded reports appeared in the press and I am convinced that this created disagreeable relations. But I think this has been overcome,' he said.

'You know very well,' Jaime continued, 'that when there is no dialogue what is published in the press can, in a way, create a less favourable climate for negotiations.'

He explained that the work was to have been completed when the IMF and World Bank held their annual general meetings, but that these had never taken place. Then, after 11 September, there had been very serious travel restrictions on World Bank and IMF staff, so that the work had been virtually put on ice.

Consolidating control measures, he said, was a process that took time.

'Having a perfectly interlinked system in which people know what their role is, what their responsibilities are, where everything is duly established and regulated, takes time, and not even institutions with many more years of experience than ours can regard themselves as having reached that stage,' he said.

Mr. Jaime spoke of issues that had been widely commented on in the press, which had also created some difficulties in relations. These, he said, were operations related to commitments assumed by the government in the past. As a result of these commitments, dating back to 1996, the government had been obliged to undertake a series of financial operations.

'This information was given to the IMF and I am convinced that everything is clear now, absolutely transparent, and the IMF must finally understand the reasons that led the government to do so,' he said.

Government assists more than 600,000 needy people in Kwanza Sul

The Kwanza Sul provincial directorate of the Ministry of Assistance and Social Reintegration, Minars, assisted 633,290 needy people in 2001.

Matias de Oliveira, head of Minars statistical analysis and project studies, said that during this period 8,276 tonnes of food - maize meal, rice, cooking oil, beans, soya beans and soap - had been distributed.

This, he said, had been done with the cooperation of NGOs operating in the province, the Christian Youth Association, German Agrarian Action, Angolan Action for Development and the World Food Programme.

He went on to say that Minars was carrying out a programme of resettling displaced persons in productive areas, so as to guarantee subsistence.

'The population cannot always live off donations. Plots of land must be distributed, so that they can produce what they need to eat and, subsequently, diversify their diets.'

Houses for former rebels

Fernando da Piedade Dias dos Santos, 'Nandó', coordinator of the Peace and National Reconciliation Fund, said in Chipipa, Huambo Province, on 28 January that the handing over of the first 67 houses for former Unita soldiers symbolised national reconciliation.

He stressed that the first phase of the building project had been difficult, but that it was clear proof that Angolans could live together.

The government is to build a total of 800 homes there for war-displaced people and Unita troops who have deserted. Huambo is the first province in which the project is being carried out.
Nandó also went to Kalima, about 30k south of the city of Huambo, where 500 houses are to be built.

The second phase, to begin shortly, is to coincide with the start of a similar project in Kwanza Sul Province.

Reforestation in Huíla

More than 600 trees of different types were planted on the outskirts of the Quipungo municipal seat, Huíla Province, on 26 January, within the framework of events to mark the International Day of the Environment.

The trees, planted by organised youth, student, religious and local administration groups, were aimed essentially at preventing desertification.

During the environment week, the local office of the Ministry of Agriculture promoted debates on the importance of nature conservation, natural resources, the effects of excessive land use and the importance of ecosystems.

Women's Network concerned about prostitution and Aids

Owing to the increase in prostitution in Angola, sometimes involving minors, as one of the major factors in the spread of HIV/Aids, the Women's Network organisation launched an Aids education project in December.

A Woman's Network source told Angop on 24 January that the aim was to decrease the risk factors through the use of condoms. The direct beneficiaries of what she described as a 'social campaign' would be all people whose sexual behaviour put them at risk, and not only prostitutes.

The project included talks, debates, the distribution of condoms, symposia, exhibitions and other forms of information distributed to the government, deputies, politicians, the media, the military and the public as a whole.

These activities, the source said, were aimed at creating a political and legal climate to protect the rights of women against all kinds of violence, irrespective of their social origin or lifestyle.

She stressed that within the framework of its programme of action to promote the rights of women and gender equality in Angola, the Network had made the issue of women and HIV/Aids one of its priority areas.

Relief convoy of 500 tonnes of goods arrives in Kuito

A convoy from Benguela Province carrying 500 tonnes of assorted goods for needy people arrived in Kuito, capital of Bié Province, on 23 January. Eusebio da Silva, head of the convoy, said the 37 trucks contained 720 tonnes of maize, 623 of peas and 157 of beans, and were to assist around 460,000 needy people in the province.

The goods arrived at a time when the World Food Programme had reduced its air transport from 3,500 to 2,000 tonnes a month, owing to the high cost and the poor state of the local airport, so that it was unable to help the most needy people.

Aid for war-displaced people in Moxico

MPLA secretary-general João Lourenço, on a two day visit to Moxico Province, visited the largest war-displaced persons camp in the province on 22 January to hand over 5,000 tonnes of assorted goods.

He said there that the food, blankets and other goods would help to lessen their difficulties.
'We know that however much help you get, it will never be enough, he said, and you yourselves will have to produce food.'

The Cautepue camp, around 15km from the city of Luena, shelters about 5,000 displaced people from Moxico, Bié, Malanje, Lunda Sul and elsewhere.
On the first day of his visit, Lourenço laid the foundation stone of a teacher-training institute.

5,000 houses for displaced persons in Bengo

Albino Machungo, Minister of Assistance and Social Reintegration, has expressed satisfaction at the implementation of a project to build around 5,000 adobe houses to resettle displaced persons at the Cambambe II camp in Bengo Province.

He was speaking on 17 January after a working visit to Caxito to assess the main problems faced by his Ministry in the province.

He said the problems had been clearly identified and the government would work to ensure the provisional resettlement of families in Sassa Caria, four kilometres south of the city. He promised to provide corrugated metal sheets, tents and food to lessen the hardships of displaced people.

The building project, coordinated by the Angolan NGO Ninho da Trinidade, was started in Sassa Caria in June last year and will benefit 5,000 families.

Albino Machungo had a meeting with provincial governor Isalino Mendes and visited a project in Paranho for the resettlement of 150 families of former soldiers, as well as the offices of his Ministry and of the Ministry of Ex-Servicemen and War Veterans.

Compiled by Marga Holness