Definitive ceasefire signed in Luanda

A ceasefire agreement between the Angolan Armed Forces and Unita's military forces was signed in Luanda on 4 April.

The ceremony was attended by President José Eduardo dos Santos. Among the foreign guests present were Ibrahim Gambari, Under-Secretary-General of the UN for African Affairs, representatives of the Troika of observer countries - Portugal, Russia and the USA - representatives of the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries, SADC and several African countries.

A delegation from the Unita Management Commission headed by Paulo Lukamba 'Gato', secretary-general of the organisation, had arrived in Luanda earlier that week for the ceremony. It included General Abreu Muengo Ucuatchitembo, chief of the high general staff of Unita's troops, and generals Artur Vinama, Armino Samuel 'Samy', Manuel Chiwale and Marcial Dachala.

The ceremony was the formal signing of a Memorandum of Understanding as an addendum to the Lusaka Protocol on the cessation of hostilities and other outstanding military issues. It was first signed in Luena, capital of Moxico Province, on 30 March, by General Geraldo Sachipengo Nunda, deputy chief of general staff of the Angolan Armed Forces, and General Abreu Muengo Ucuatchitembo, 'Kamorteiro', for Unita.

Amnesty Law passed

The National Assembly unanimously passed an Amnesty Law on 2 April for all crimes committed within the context of the armed conflict.

It covered all those who presented themselves to the Angolan authorities and those who came forward within 45 days of its entry into force in order to be reintegrated into society.

Introducing the law, Deputy Minister of Justice Manuel Aragão explained that the 45-day period was a decision taken at the meeting of the two military commands in Luena.

It was the fourth amnesty law to be passed since the start of the peace process. The first was in November 1994, the second in May 1996 and the third in November 2000.

Also addressing the National Assembly during a special session on the peace process, GeneralArmando da Cruz Neto, chief of general staff of the Angolan Armed Forces, FAA, said that a Joint Military Commission would start to operate on 4 April to monitor implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding. He said it had been decided to create this body in order to instil confidence in Unita's military forces.

Comprising officers from FAA and Unita and chaired by FAA, the UN and Troika would have observer status in the commission. The commission would be seconded by a technical group comprising military experts from the government forces, Unita, the UN and the Troika, he said.

The Memorandum was presented to members of the National Assembly.

The document included the demobilisation, disarming and dissolution of Unita's military forces and the quartering of up to 50,000 Unita troops in 27 specified areas. It further provided for the integration into FAA and the national police of Unita troops and the demobilisation and reintegration into society of surplus men.

General Armando da Cruz also presented Brigadier Carlitos Wala to the National Assembly. He was the commander of the troops that carried out the action in Lucusse, Moxico Province, in which Unita leader Jonas Savimbi was killed in combat on 22 February, the event that had rapidly led to the ending of the war.

Logistical plan for quartering areas approved

Meeting in Luanda on 17 April, the standing commission of the Council of Ministers approved a logistical support plan for the quartering of 55,000 Unita troops and their families.

It provided for the provision of food, uniforms, articles of hygiene, medical posts, cooking utensils and refectories, as well as recreational facilities. It also included tools, farm implements, seeds and fertilisers, with the aim of ensuring adequate material conditions for 55,000 quartered troops and up to 300,000 members of their families.

Ceasefire 'rigorously complied with'

General Geraldo Sachipengo Nunda, deputy chief of general staff of FAA, said in Luanda on 10 April that the ceasefire was being rigorously complied with by both parties.

Speaking at the end of the first meeting of the Joint Military Commission, he said that since the signing of the definitive ceasefire there had been no military incidents. Though not all conditions had yet been created in the quartering areas, he added, Unita soldiers were concentrating in the places indicated and FAA was working to accommodate them.

The meeting, he continued, had agreed to include another four quartering areas, bringing the number to 31. This figure was subsequently raised to 38.

The officers to serve in the Joint Military Commission and technical groups had been presented at the meeting, he said, together with the regulations and a plan of work for the month of April. General Sachipengo said the national reconstruction service was the responsibility of the government.

This service would receive Unita personnel and provide jobs for them, in accordance with their abilities.

Abreu Muengo 'Kamorteiro', head of the Unita military delegation, said his troops were committed to complying with the ceasefire and that the use of weapons no longer made any sense. The meeting was attended by Ibrahim Gambari, UN Under-Secretary-General for African Affairs, and the Troika of observers.

Gambari congratulated FAA and Unita's military forces for the courage and patriotism shown during the talks that had resulted in the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding. He expressed his faith that the talks would go well and that outstanding issues would soon be resolved, so as to go on to completing the Lusaka Protocol.

It was announced on 25 April that 9,000 Unita troops had so far been quartered.

Mandate of UN Office in Angola extended

The Un Security Council decided on 15 April to extend the mandate of the UN Office in Angola, Unoa, for another three months, at the request of UN Secretary-general Kofi Annan.

This was to give time for new deliberations between the government and Unita and to draw up a Security Council report on the situation in Angola and the future role of the UN in the country.

In his letter to the Security Council, the Secretary-General asked the UN to provide emergency assistance to the families of demobilised soldiers and to help the process of quartering, disarming and repatriating foreign troops.

The Security Council also recommended that the Mechanism for monitoring sanctions against Unita should continue its work for another sixth months.

It further called for the full implementation of the Lusaka Protocol and consultations between the UN and the Angolan government to examine modifying sanctions against Unita in respect of travel restrictions, with a view to facilitating peace talks.

These recommendations had been made in a report by the Mechanism, which noted that the ceasefire signed on 4 April had created new hopes for peace.

It considered that there had been a rapid stabilisation of the military situation in Angola since the death of Jonas Savimbi.

Clare Short visits Angola

Clare Short, Britain's Secretary of State for International Development, said in Luanda on 10 April that her country was ready to provide help both for the peace process and the reconstruction of Angola.

Speaking to the press after a long meeting with Minister of External relations João Miranda, she said her department was particularly interested in helping to improve the lives of the most needy people, especially those directly affected by the war, who now deserved an opportunity for a better life.

Clare Short, who was on an official 48-hour visit to Angola, said that Britain had already taken part in programmes of assistance to war displaced people and that it would now extend aid, thought he United Nations, to the process of disarming, demobilising and reintegrating former soldiers and to resettlement programmes for war-displaced people.

She said the other issue that had brought her to Luanda had to do with efforts to achieve peace in DR Congo, in view of the influence that both Angola and Britain had with parties to the conflict.

During her stay, Clare Short was received by President José Eduardo dos Santos and also had meetings with Ana Dias Lourenço, Minister of Planning, João Baptista Kussumua, Minister of Assistance and Social Reintegration, Júlio Bessa, Minister of Finance, Fernando da Piedade 'Nandó', Minister of the Interior, and Aguinaldo Jaime, governor of the National Bank of Angola.

Britain welcomes revival of peace process

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has congratulated the Angolan government on its initiative to promote dialogue with the Unita military command.

Following a meeting on 26 March with his Angolan counterpart João Miranda, who was on an
official visit to Britain, he said: 'I was glad to have this opportunity to emphasise Britain's support for the peace process in Angola. Savimbi's death has presented a unique opportunity to take this process forward.

Both sides need to make firm moves towards a sustainable political process. I congratulated the government of Angola on taking the lead with a positive initial statement.'

João Miranda described their discussions of current relations between the two countries and issues related to the peace process and the humanitarian situation in Angola as 'very positive'.

Speaking on 25 March at a meeting at the House of Lords organised by the Mozambique Angola Committee and the United Nations Association, João Miranda thanked Britain for complying with UN sanctions against Unita, stating that sanctions had greatly contributed to the collapse of the army led by Jonas Savimbi until 22 February.

The main issues discussed during his visit, he said, were the current situation in Angola, where the war had now ended, and the reconstruction of the country.

During the meeting, which was chaired by Lord Hughes, Minister Miranda appealed to politicians,diplomats, representatives of companies and NGOs and all those present to continue to support Angola in the absence of armed conflict, since everyone's contribution was needed to consolidate peace and rebuild the country.

The programme of the visit also included meetings with Clare Short, Secretary of State for International Development, Baroness Amos, Foreign Office Minister for Africa, and representatives of British businesses operating in Angola, among others.

During his stay in London, on 26 March Minister Miranda also officially inaugurated the new premises of the Angolan Embassy in London.

Angola to convene two donor conferences

The Angolan government plans to convene two international donor conferences, one to seek support for its programme of reintegrating former Unita soldiers and their families into society and the other for the economic reconstruction of the country.

Minister for External Relations Mr. João Bernardo de Miranda said in Luanda on 29 April that the first, which was urgent, would be held with the effective support of the United Nations. This one already had the support of Portugal, which had undertaken to mobilise support from its European partners.

The other one would be similar to the donor conference held in Brussels in 1995. That one, he said, would be to some extent contingent on the first, and the Angolan government was counting on the support of the United Nations, which had been asked to mobilise the international community.

The Minister announced these initiatives to the press after a meeting with his Portuguese counterpart, António Martins da Cruz, who was on a 48-hour visit to Angola aimed essentially at boosting cooperation between the two countries.

During their three-hour meeting, Miranda said, they had discussed cooperation and he had given the Portuguese Minister all the information on the peace process in Angola, particularly the present essentially military phase of the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding signed by the government and Unita.

He went on to say that some of the conditions for going on to the next phase, the political one, were still lacking, like for example unity within Unita, so that it could really be the government's interlocutor for the process of implementing the outstanding aspects of the Lusaka Protocol.

Portugal, as a member of the Troika of observers of the peace process, had expressed its wish to be more involved in this.

The first seven of twelve Portuguese military officers who were to work with the government-Unita Joint Military Commission would be arriving in the country within days to help supervise the quartering and demobilisation of Unita troops, he said.

Customs earn more than US$100 million in the first quarter of the year

The Angolan customs earned more than US$100 million in the first three months of this year, an increase of 98 percent over the same period last year, when the figure was US$48.5 million.

Silvio Burity, national director of customs, revealed this on 24 April in a talk on customs reform. He said the target for 2002 was US$550 million.

The results achieved, he said, were within the framework of the customs modernisation programme that, among other things, provided for the growth of tax earnings from the non-oil sector by increasing the number of taxpayers and combating fraud and tax evasion.

Plans to attain 926,000 barrels a day this year

Oil Minister Mr. Botelho de Vasconcelos said in Luanda on 22 April that oil extraction in Angola was expected to attain 926,814 barrels a day this year.

During a talk on public administration, the oil industry and national development, he also discussed the oil refinery being built in Benguela Province with a 200,000 barrels a day capacity.
He said that the aim was to process crude oil in the country, increase the volume of petroleum derivatives on the national market and launch a national petrochemical industry, providing solvents for industry.

The new refinery, he said, would use the port of Lobito and the Benguela Railway, making it possible to supply DR Congo and Zambia with fuel.

The Minister further spoke of a gas liquification project to put an end to the burning of gas and use it to increase and diversify domestic consumption and for industrial purposes, as well as selling it abroad.

These two projects, he continued, would also have effects on the labour market, help to modernise people's lives and provide domestic gas, electricity, lubricants and pesticides and fertilisers for agriculture.

The projects would lead to innovations and rehabilitation in certain service industries, small plants, painting and insulation, as well as catering, cleaning services, public transport, medical services and other areas.

Government policy, the Minister said, was to ensure that the business opportunities offered to foreign companies also resulted in advantages for Angolans. 'It is our firm political position to demand the recruitment, training and employment of Angolans at all levels - technicians, managers and consultants,' he stressed.

While some companies had in recent years made efforts to employ national personnel, the results achieved did not yet meet expectations in the sector.

There were plans to transform the National Petroleum Institute into a high-level centre that would attract students and lecturers not only from Angola but from other countries too, and gradually transform it into an institution of higher education.

Rehabilitation of railways planned

Minister of transport Luís Brandão has said that the rehabilitation and modernisation of Angola's railways will cost around US$4 billion.

Quoted by the Jornal de Angola on 18 April, he said the programme approved by the government would take eleven years to complete. Following the rehabilitation of the Lobito-Huambo, Namibe and Luanda-Malanje lines, he said, the stretch from Huambo to the border and the Menongue junction would be repaired.

After that, he said, new lines would be built, followed by the establishment of links between the Namibian, Zambian and Congolese railways.

This was an enormous programme, the Minister said. There was shortly to be a seminar in Germany and the international presentation of the railway programme would take place on 22 April, he said.

Meanwhile, Daniel Kapaxi, director general of the Benguela Railway, said that financial, human, technical and material resources were being mobilised for the rehabilitation of the line in three phases, so that it would once again reach Luau in Moxico Province.

Following agreement between the government and the company, he said, the first phase would be the 200-km stretch between Benguela and Cubal, followed by Cubal to Huambo and, finally, Huambo to Luau.

Apart from the Lobito to Benguela stretch, he said, no conservation work had been done on the line since 1993.

The Benguela Railway was built between 1903 and 1922 by a British company that signed a 99-year concession agreement with the Portuguese colonial government. On 8 November 2001 it became the exclusive property of Angola.

Running through the provinces of Benguela, Huambo, Bié and Moxico, it links Angola with DR Congo and Zambia, extending for 1,303 km and making it possible to connect the Atlantic and Indian Oceans.

Rural revival expected to be rapid

Zacarias Sambeny, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, told Angop on 20 March that production in rural areas would pick up rapidly once there was security and stability in the country. With the advent of peace, he said 'we will quite certainly reduce food shortages and increase production'.

There were about four million displaced people in Angola, he said, at least 70 percent of them from rural areas.

The Ministry's prime concern was the resettlement of people, so that they could return to agriculture, and to mobilise resources to ensure that the inputs and implements were there on time.

Other tasks were to make land available and to create conditions for a rural extension programme to be carried out by the Agricultural Development Institute, with a view to reducing the food deficit of 700,000 tonnes of grain within the next five years.

'We can not only increase production in quantity but also in quality, so that we can rapidly provide a balanced diet for the people and the requisite calorie intake,' he said.

Sambeny said conditions were being created to revive permanent rural trade, adding that as security, stability and free movement increased in the country, rural commercial activity was resuming of its own accord.

Banana planting campaign in Kwanza Norte

It was reported on 20 March that a banana planting campaign had been launched a few days earlier on the outskirts of Mucoso, municipality of Cambambe, Kwanza Norte Province, directed by the local office of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Mr. Litino Cristóvão, provincial director, said the campaign was part of a project started last year to revive banana and citric fruit production. Covering an initial area of 60 hectares of land, it was financed by the national emergency programme for humanitarian aid.

He added that the irrigation system and experimental fields had already been restored.

Lomaum dam to be repaired

The national electricity company, Ene, is currently assessing the extent of the destruction of the Lomaum hydroelectric dam in Benguela Province, with a view to repairing it as soon as possible.

Eduardo Nelumba, chairman of Ene's administrative board, said in Benguela on 20 March that they were evaluating the time it would take to repair the dam and what it would cost.

Repairing the dam was an urgent need, owing to increased power consumption in the region, owing to the coming into being of new undertakings, including the Lobito oil refinery.

The Lomaum dam was partially destroyed by South African troops in 1983, leaving Benguela, Huambo and part of Bié Province with power shortages for many years.

Farmers from Zimbabwe to work in Angola

The governor of Huambo Province, Mr. Paulo Cassoma, has revealed that 10,000 hectares of land are to be allocated in Chipipa, 22km northwest of the city of Huambo, to an Angolan consortium that includes also white farmers coming from Zimbabwe.

He also said the situation of all farms granted to private farmers by the state which were not being worked would be reviewed.

The 10,000 hectares of land, he went on to say, would be used to grow maize for export. This would not only boost social and economic development in Chipipa, but would help to decrease unemployment by creating new jobs.

The governor said that the consortium project would start soon.

Endiama to build hospitals and schools in Lundas

The national diamond company, Endiama, has started a new social development project to build schools and hospital centres in mining areas.

Manuel Calado, chairman of Endiama's administrative board, laid the foundation stone of one of the units on 29 April in the municipality of Nzagi, Lunda Norte, to mark the international day of the miner.

He said the project, to be started in Lunda Norte and Lunda Sul provinces, would be extended to include all the areas where Endiama was operating.

The school will have a capacity for 700 pupils and there is to be a medical post with a laboratory, three sick bays, two waiting rooms and two consulting rooms.

They are to be built in four months. Manuel Calado also re-inaugurated a school for primary and secondary students with a capacity for 1,800, which had been rehabilitated by the Chitotolo Association, one of Endiama's partners.

He presented an ambulance and a generator to the Luchilo hospital, 12 km from Nzagi, and also made donations of clothing to displaced persons in Chitato and to the Chico Guerreiro camp, where there are around 2,000 people from Rwanda, Congo and Burundi suffering extreme hardship.

Construction firm to train demobilised troops

The Angolan civil construction firm Emproe is to train demobilised troops and civilians, according to Silva Neto, director general of the firm, who said they were working to create the requisite conditions.

He said Emproe was planning to give three-month courses, starting with a group of 60 trainees, 40 of whom would be indicated by the Angolan Armed Forces.

There would be theoretical and practical classes and trainees would receive an allowance during the course.

'After the course, the students will be given training posts on the building work being done at Zango, under our responsibility.' Zango is a new social housing development near Luanda.

Silva Neto called on foreign and national construction firms to do the same as Emproe, in view of the new situation in the country.

Anti-retrovirals to be made available

Anti-retrovirals for the treatment of HIV/Aids cases are to be made available in Angola.

The strategy of using them was approved at a meeting of the standing commission of the Council of Ministers on 24 April.

The aim is to halt the propagation of the disease, improve the quality of life of those already affected by the virus and reduce transmission from mother to child.

The three-year programme is to be coordinated by the National Directorate of Public Health.

Reception centres are to be created, with the support of churches and youth, cultural and sportsassociations, while strengthening the capacity of the national health service to manage the use of anti-retrovirals, as well as to provide early diagnosis and treatment.

It was further agreed at the meeting that the government is to provide US$68 million to support 1.2 million needy people, within the framework of an 18-month humanitarian programme for which the World Food Programme is to contribute another US$233 million.

Six million Angolans in conditions of hardship

Approximately six million people in Angola, around four million of whom are war-displaced people, victims of anti-personnel mines and people with no means of subsistence, are living in conditions of hardship.

Albino Malungo, president of the Angolan Red Cross, revealed this on 22 April, adding that overcoming this situation required the total commitment of society, donors and partners of the government.

He was speaking at the opening of a conference of donors from the Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies aimed at mustering support for humanitarian programmes, especially the resettlement of displaced persons.

Malungo went on to say that the conference was taking place at a very important time in the country, owing to the end of the war.

'Thanks to peace, millions of Angolans want to return to their home areas, so we have a duty to contribute our utmost to ensure that they have a bright future,' he said.

The foreign delegations included representatives from Norway, the Netherlands, Spain, Denmark, Sweden and Finland.

FAA and Unita demining roads

The Jornal de Angola reported on 15 April that a mixed group of mine clearance specialists from FAA and Unita were already working in Malanje Province.

They were giving priority to routes where Unita troops would have to pass to reach the quartering areas in Damba and Gangassol.

Major Delfim Quintino Luís, spokesman of the command of FAA's sixth grouping in Malanje, said the demining group ensured permanent contact between men from FAA and Unita, in addition to which there was radio contact between the commanders on the evolution of the ceasefire.

US$60 million for displaced persons

Albino Malungo, the then Minister of Assistance and Social Reintegration, said on 26 March that the government had allocated US$60 million to help thousands of displaced persons at risk, essentially in Moxico, Bié and Kuando Kubango provinces.

He said the government was directly assisting more than 500,000 people and that another 349,000 needed government support to survive.

The first priority, he continued, was Moxico, where the situation was worrying. Government sources said there were 4.28 million displaced and needy people, only 1.360 million of whom were receiving international aid.

Government invests in Uíge water supply

At least US$426,967 was invested by the government in 2001 in a programme to rehabilitate the fresh water supply system in Uíge Province.

A further programme to extend the water distribution network was started in February, with the aim of providing piped water to more people.

The report said that the aim was to guarantee more potable water for the population, bringing water closer to people and also decreasing the incidence of diseases contracted from untreated water.

Ministry of Planning signs agreement with BP

A cooperation agreement between the Ministry of Planning and British Petroleum was signed in Luanda on 21 March, under which BP is to contribute US$100,000 to the Social Action Fund, FAS, for training programmes for community capacity building in project selection and management.

Victor Hugo, executive chairman of FAS, said the funds would cover part of the costs of community and local government training projects. FAS needed an estimated US$47 million for this phase of project implementation, he said.

Other donors were the Norwegian and Swedish governments and the World Bank, which had recently donated US$33 million.

Since March 2001, he said, around 150 projects related to water supplies, basic sanitation, health and education in nine of the country's provinces had already been completed, and about the same number were in progress.

National meeting on traditional authorities

A meeting opened in Luanda on 20 March to discuss traditional authorities in Angola.

Organised by the Ministry of Territorial Administration, it brought together traditional authorities, academics, politicians and religious officials to reflect on the role of chiefs and headmen and agree on a policy for organising traditional power, based on heredity and respecting ethnic diversity.

In his opening address, António Pitra Neto, Minister of Public Administration, Employment and Social Security, stressed the important role played by traditional authorities 'in strengthening feelings of cohesion and national solidarity, by preserving our ethno-linguistic mosaic, positive values of cultural identity and good relations among local communities'.

'The merits of the social, civic and cultural action of many chiefs in the tasks of national and community life dating back to Angola's armed struggle for freedom are recognised,' he said.

He stressed the need to find the best way of using the influence of traditional authorities in effortsto make basic schooling available to all and in the civic education of the people, especially in rural areas.

Landmine estimates very exaggerated

Mr. Helder Cruz, director of the national institute responsible for mine clearance, Inaroee, said on Angolan radio on 21 march that most of the reports on the numbers of landmines in Angola were based on sheer speculation.

He rejected the view that there was one mine for every Angolan, saying that there were between four and seven million, not twelve million, as claimed.

'Some of the accounts do not reflect the truth,' he said. 'We always studied the reports we had from the former FAPLA on what had been done, and we investigated.

The numbers always indicated between four and six million mines. So, at the very most there may be up to seven million.'

Malanje, Moxico and Uíge,' he said, were the provinces where there were the most mine accidents, though the most heavily mined areas were in Cunene and Kuando Kubango. 'We are going to have to restore the de-mining school,' Cruz said, 'and a new mine clearance programme needs to be started.'

British NGO clears mines in Huambo

The British NGO Halo Trust demined more than 230 hectares of agricultural land in Huambo Province between 1996 and 2001.

Mr. Valdemar Fernandes, chief of Halo Trust operations in Huambo, said on 18 March that they haddestroyed 4,480 anti-personnel mines, 178 anti-tank mines and more than 17,972 unexploded devices.

The land, he said, was already being used by the peasants, mainly displaced persons who had been obliged to leave their home areas to establish themselves around the main urban centres in the province.

Mr. Fernandes went on to say that this year Halo Trust planned to clear 20 identified minefields in the municipalities of Ukuma, Tchicala-Tcholohanga and Tchidjenji and in the Gove area.

The previous weekend, he said, 38,489 square metres of de-mined land had been officially handed over to the community in Caminhamba, about 8km south of the town of Caála. This would be farmed by at least ten war-displaced families from the commune of Cuima, he said.

Thirteen anti-personnel mines, two mortar shells and a grenade had been destroyed in that area, he said.

Compiled by Marga Holness