General Ngueto dies in helicopter accident

General José Cordeiro 'Ngueto', head of the Kwanza-Bengo 7th Military Grouping, and Brigadier António Luís 'Toy', commander in Zenza Sul, were among other high-ranking FAA and Unita officers and journalists who died in a helicopter accident on 2 June They had been on their way to the Mussabo quartering area, Samba Cajú, Kwanza Norte Province, to assess the accommodation conditions of Unita troops and their families.

There were six survivors of the accident, which was caused by bad weather conditions.

The funeral was held in Luanda the following Thursday, attended by President José Eduardo dos Santos, Roberto de Almeida, president of the National Assembly, members of the government, political parties and religious personalities, among others.
Writing in the book of condolences, President dos Santos described the accident as a 'great tragedy for the nation'.

Referring to General Ngueto, he wrote, 'The nation has lost another great commander, General Ngueto. He was the man of the moment at the battle of Kuito Kuanavale, where he made an important contribution to the total liberation of Africa'.

Ngueto had commanded that historic battle, in which the invading South African army was defeated, leading to the New York agreements of December 1988, the independence of Namibia and, subsequently, the end of the apartheid regime in South Africa.

Peace conference held in Luanda

A national conference on peace and the challenges of the future was held in Luanda from 27 to 29 June. Organised by the MPLA, it was attended by more than 600 delegates from all the country's provinces, including parliamentarians, ministers, church representatives, members of political parties, trade unionists, traditional authorities, business people and journalists, among others.

Among issues discussed were the situation in Unita quartering areas, problems of displaced persons and prospects for resettling them, demobilisation, vocational training and reintegration of ex-servicemen, the case of Cabinda, the legal system, the rule of law, restoring production, unemployment, poverty, the economic development model for Angola, decentralisation and administrative and financial autonomy, education and personnel training and placement, investment policy and rebuilding infrastructure and facilities.

Addressing the closing session, Roberto de Almeida, president of the National Assembly, said it had shown it was possible to unite Angolans to solve their problems. The conference, he said, had been positive, owing to the in-depth analysis and frankness shown during the debates.

'The event attained its purpose and provided a framework to see Angolan society as a whole characterised by a diversity of views, tolerance and the free expression of ideas,' he said.

He went on to say that all the proposals made would be thoroughly examined, so as to find ways of applying them in current and future programmes.

Roberto de Almeida stressed that final peace was a precious gain that should be strengthened on the basis of reconciliation, understanding and mutual respect, continual dialogue and emphasis on factors that unite Angolans as opposed to those that divide them.

'Peace has returned to Angola and it is now up to the millions of citizens of this country, imbued with intelligence, optimism and determination, to face the challenges of the future with courage,' he said.

Government spending on quartering areas

Around US$44 million had been spent on by the government on Unita quartering areas by the end of June.

Minister of Finance Júlio Bessa revealed on 19 June that the government was going to spend another US$23 million on logistical supplies for quartering areas in the second half of July and the month of August. Part of this - US$7.5 million - had already been spent on goods acquired on the domestic market, he said.

Addressing a meeting of the standing commission of the Council of Ministers, he added that the government had acquired 19 apartments and five houses for high-ranking Unita personnel.
Part of the US$15 million spent abroad, Bessa said, had been used to acquire vocational training and self-employment kits.

He added that a ship loaded with goods for quartering areas that had been retained in the port of Rio de Janeiro because of a strike would be arriving in the country in the next few days.

Army general staff headquarters, he said, was preparing convoys of vehicles to take goods to quartering areas all over the country, while efforts were being made to mobilise assistance from the private sector.

There were more than 480,000 people in quartering centres, over 80,000 of them soldiers.
The ship from Brazil, containing 55 tonnes of medicines, food, blankets and other goods, arrived two days later. Another ship with 200 containers loaded mainly with food was expected to arrive from Brazil shortly afterwards.

The special commission set up to ensure logistical and material supplies for Unita quartering areas had revealed earlier that during the first phase of operations approximately US$22 million had been spent, US$8 million of which on purchases on the domestic market.

In a press statement issued on 23 May at the end of a meeting to review financial operations, the commission stated that purchases to ensure immediate assistance to quartering areas had been made from Angolan suppliers that had stocks and accessible prices.

With regard to purchases from abroad, it said that these were mainly from Brazil and South Africa. A cargo plane from Brazil was expected that same day, and two ships would soon be arriving, in addition to one that had recently unloaded 120 containers.

Troika of observers deem peace process positive

Representatives of the Troika of observer countries - Portugal, Russia and USA - have welcomed the satisfactory manner in which the Memorandum of Understanding has been implemented.
Speaking to the press after a meeting on 14 June between the Troika and the National Commission for the Social and Productive Reintegration of Demobilised Soldiers, Christopher Dell, the US Ambassador to Angola, said they had made a positive assessment of the new process taking place since last April.

He said the Troika was prepared to help the Angolan government acquire the means to attenuate the humanitarian crisis caused by more than 70,000 quartered Unita troops and their families.
He said stressed the need for the entire international community to help the process.

''We share the government's concern to find the most effective types of aid as rapidly as possible,' he said.

Fernando da Piedade Dias dos Santos 'Nandó', coordinator of the Commission, said they had discussed new ways of working, with a view to completing the tasks of the Lusaka Protocol.

Numbers in quartering areas many more than expected

General Francisco Furtado, spokesman of the Joint Military Commission, announced on 11 June that 78,800 Unita troops had been quartered and 236,490 of their family members had been received in centres.

Officially, the quartering process was to have ended on 7 June. However, there were still Unita men heading for quartering areas in Kuando Kubango and Moxico provinces.

With regard to weapons handed in, Furtado said they had already collected and registered 25,600 light arms, 241 60mm mortars, more than 1000 81mm and 82 mm mortars, two 120mm mortars and 25 artillery pieces of various calibres.

Meeting in Luanda the previous day, the Inter-ministerial Commission for Peace and National Reconciliation discussed assistance for quartered Unita troops and their families with the Troika and the UN and members of the Joint Military Commission.

General Hendrick, FAA representative in the Joint Military Commission, stressed that the poor health of people in the quartering areas, especially children, was the result of their years in the bush.

'The state of malnutrition shown by the patients goes back years. Malnutrition was not caused by the quartering process,' he explained.

General Artur Vinama, a Unita representative in the Joint Commission said the government had been making efforts to overcome the situation, which had improved substantially in the past few days. General

Francisco Furtado had earlier stated that health was the biggest problem in quartering areas. He said that everything was being done to reduce the number of fatalities.

He appealed to NGOs to step up their work where the need was greatest, like Médecins Sans Frontières, which was in the Galangue camp assisting people.

MPLA disappointed by response of international community

MPLA Secretary-General João Lourenço has expressed disappointment at the unsatisfactory involvement of the international community in the quartering of Unita's military forces. Speaking on Angolan national radio on 11 June, he said that although some countries had responded positively to the government's appeals for aid, the response from the international community as a whole had been poor.

He recalled that during the war many people and organisations had pressed the government to open 'humanitarian corridors' to get food to the needy population. Paradoxically, now that there was peace and the needy people were in clearly identified and accessible areas, those same voices had purely and simply disappeared.

'This is a massive process in which the number of soldiers has greatly exceeded the forecasts. It can be said that providing virtually all logistical support has fallen solely to the government,' he said.

Roberto de Almeida says MPs should monitor government action

Roberto de Almeida, president of the National Assembly, said on 17 June that all the instruments needed for regular and effective monitoring of government action were available.

'The National Assembly has the responsibility to control and monitor government action, about which so much has been said recently,' he said.

Speaking at the closing session of the 2001-2002 legislative period, he said that parliamentary working commissions were free to ask members of the government to attend their meetings and to call upon officials from government bodies to give whatever clarifications they needed.
However, he added, 'there are few commissions that use that prerogative'.

Calling for unity and vigilance, 'so as to devote more energy to task of rebuilding our country, putting it definitively on the road to development', Roberto de Almeida said that it was imperative to retain the lessons of the past, so that 'future generations will not repeat the same mistakes and that the history of our country will not be distorted as regards the hecatomb Angolans have experienced.'

It was not a question of re-opening wounds, he said, but national reconciliation and pardon could in no way mean permitting historical truth to be adulterated or omitted.

Government denies allegations of financial scandals

Addressing the National Assembly on 5 June, Fernando da Piedade 'Nandó', Minister of the Interior, referred to allegations made by a Swiss judge, Daniel Devaud, about purported financial scandals involving leading Angolan political figures. He was speaking in response to a request from the MPLA parliamentary group for clarification.

'The action taken by judge Daniel Devaud in Switzerland with regard to the Angolan government's action in respect of the bilateral rescheduling of the inter-governmental debt to Russia is a clear manifestation of arrogance and abuse of legal power, a violation of the principles of international law, which is yet another aspect of the continued strategy aimed at creating purported legal facts,' he said.

Nandó explained that within the framework of special state financial operations aimed at preserving national security and vital national interests, the government had deposited state assets abroad in the name of the holders of political posts, in a discreet and responsible manner.

This practice, he said, which had helped decisively to maintain democratic institutions, preserve sovereignty and territorial integrity and achieve definitive peace, 'is customary in exceptional situations, like that in Angola, in many countries in the world'.

It was done, he continued, 'on the basis of legal procedures that not only prevent the personal use of the assets by the person named, but permit their return to the National bank of Angola in the event that the government so wishes or the person dies.'

Following the ending of the war, Nandó said, all such accounts had been regularised and their assets transferred to state accounts. He stressed that at no time had any state account abroad been put in the name of the President of the Republic, and that, since there was no UN Security Council embargo against the Angolan government, all its actions had been in keeping with domestic legislation and international law.

The agreement to reschedule the debt, he said, created the guarantee of a strategic partnership with the Russia Federation, resulting in support in international relations, technical and military assistance for the Angolan Armed Forces and other forms of cooperation that had contributed decisively to the current state of peace, security and stability in the country.

Nandó also denied that there was any 'secret organisation' operating between Geneva, Moscow and Luanda involving Angolan officials said to have received funds by such criminal means as corruption and embezzlement. These accusations by the Swiss judge, he said, were in some ways identical to others made in France about alleged arms trafficking by the Angolan government, which had been thrown out by the competent French court.

Programme for social reintegration of Unita troops

More than US$56 million is to be made available for a programme for the social reintegration of demobilised Unita troops. The three-year programme is to cover 30,000 people.

The programme, which was approved by the standing commission of the Council of Ministers on 22 May, is to be carried out with the participation of public and private institutions, including national and foreign NGOs, religious bodies and others.

It includes vocational training and re-training, support for children, the setting up of small family businesses and the rehabilitation of communication lines and social facilities, as well as creating jobs and supporting rural resettlement and community development.

Government explains misunderstandings about UN role

João Pedro, spokesman of the Ministry of External Relations, stated on 16 May that, as a result of misinterpretations, it was being said that the government was refusing to let the UN and the international community assist the Unita military forces in the quartering areas.

Interviewed by the Voice of America, he explained that, as a question of principle, the Unita men in quartering areas were being treated like FAA soldiers and receiving pay and other entitlements.

Stressing that the sovereignty of the national army was involved, he said the government was not refusing food, tents or other articles from the international community to assist the soldiers and their families, but had in fact asked for UN assistance in organising and managing them.

'The support,' João Pedro said, 'should not be given directly to the armed forces, as supposed, but to the inter-ministerial commission dealing with the peace process.'

Dos Santos writes to UN Secretary-General

According to a press release issued on 13 May, President José Eduardo dos Santos wrote to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan about recent developments in Angola and prospects for the peace process.

Not making the implementation of a programme of humanitarian aid for war-affected people dependent on the holding of a donor's conference, he expressed the government's wish to be able to rely 'as far as possible, on the technical assistance of the United Nations in organising and managing the quartering areas and providing material and logistical help for reintegration programmes'.

This included UN technical assistance for the quartering of 55,000 Unita troops and around 350,000 family members, and the subsequent incorporation of 5,000 of these men in the armed forces and national police.

'Bearing in mind past experience,' the President wrote, ' the government is making a great effort to muster its own resources to create better conditions in the reception areas for Unita soldiers and their families.' The greatest coordination and cooperation between the government and the UN was therefore needed, 'since the consolidation of peace and national reconciliation is the final goal, which will make it possible to normalise the national democratic process'.

'In the current climate of peace in the country,' the letter continued, ' the government is aware that another very important task is that of resettling around four million displaced persons, reintegrating in society 200,000 former soldiers from the various wars and attending to more than 100,000 disabled people and 50,000 war orphans, as a precondition for eliminating the factors that could weaken the peace process. Associated with this is the start of a wide-ranging national programme to rehabilitate destroyed facilities. To this end, the Angolan government regards continued international humanitarian aid as indispensable, even considering that it should be increased in this crucial phase.'

In addition to the effort to mobilise its own resources for its programme of rebuilding the country, President dos Santos wrote, the government was 'aware of the need for support from the international community, owing to the volume of investments to be made in programmes of technical and vocational training, demining, the rehabilitation of roads, bridges and railway lines, water supply systems, electric power, and building schools, hospitals and other facilities to make it possible to provide basic services for the population to help improve the quality of life'.

In conclusion, the President asked for the UN Secretary-general's assistance in "organising and holding an international donors' conference aimed at mustering resources to meet immediate material needs stemming from this phase of the peace process, as well as the subsequent phase of national reconstruction'.

Joao Lourenço talks about peace process in London

Speaking in London on 3 May, MPLA secretary-general João Lourenço said he was satisfied with the way the peace process had been going since the signing of the ceasefire between the Angolan Armed Forces and Unita.

Addressing the British Angola Forum, he said 'history will tell the true facts, not in order to incriminate one or another politician or this or that political party involved in the conflict, but for us to learn from and not repeat t mistakes that led to the destruction of one of the countries with the greatest economic potential in Southern Africa.

Referring to the quartering of Unita troops, Lourenço said it was advancing at a good pace and there were guarantees that the ceasefire would be strictly respected.

In reply to a about question oil revenues and relations between the IMF and the Angolan government, Lourenço stressed that Angola had been at war.

'So when it is said that the money from oil earnings ended up in the pockets of leaders, it's not true,' he said. 'We never hid the fact that we were buying weapons to defend democracy. The result of all that is now very clear: there is peace. The war has ended in Angola.'

Chevron fined for damaging environment

The Ministry of Fisheries and the Environment has fined the Chevron oil company US$2 million for damage to the environment, it was reported on 30 June. Chevron has been responsible for frequent oil spills from the Cabinda offshore rigs, affecting the marine ecosystem. The fine was imposed for polluting beaches and preventing fishermen from working.

Experts have said that the spills in Cabinda in May and June last year were due to the obsolete state of pipes used in the extraction of crude oil in the Malongo oil field.

Mining companies to help repair roads

Endiama, the national diamond company, and other mining companies are to provide material and financial resources to repair the road from Malanje to Lunda.

According to an Endiama press release issued on 10 June, the estimated cost will be US$2.6 million. US$1.4 million will be born by the mining companies. Their involvement, it said, stemmed from the need to ensure supplies of resources and equipment to mining areas.
In cooperation with Inea, the national highway institute of Angola, the mining companies will ensure the resumption of road traffic on the Malanje-Lunda-Sul-Lunda-Norte stretch within a maximum period of five months. The next phase of the work will be the road from Luanda to Lunda Norte.

Grain shortfall despite 22.6 percent increase in output

According to a report issued by the food security office of the Ministry of Agriculture on 3 June, Angola is going to need 1,297,328 tonnes of grain in 2002/2003. It will also need an estimated 310,155 tonnes of beans and 62,057 tonnes of groundnuts.

However, total production has increased by around 22.6 percent, particularly in respect of maize, beans, groundnuts and cassava. Estimated commercial imports could be between 98,000 and 115,000 of wheat flour, around 2,500 of corn and 52,000 of maize meal.

During the 2001/2002 agricultural year, according to the report, around 671,300 families took part in agricultural production in the country's eighteen provinces, 392,380 of them displaced people. The estimated area of land involved was 2.45 million hectares, an increase of 6 percent over the previous year.

Children vaccinated against polio

According to an official source, 1,420,273 children aged up to five were vaccinated against polio in Luanda from 21 to 23 June. Ana Vaz of the public health department said the number of children vaccinated Luanda was about 96 percent of those forecast.
Figures coming in from all over the country later indicated that around four million children had been immunised against polio.

'Angola has between four and five million landmines'

João Baptista Kussumua, Minister of Assistance and Social Reintegration, said in Luanda on 26 June that Angola was one of the countries in Southern Africa most affected by landmines, with an estimated four to five million of them and around 80,000 disabled people.

Addressing a meeting of the SADC action committee against mines, he said current statistical data on landmine accidents indicated that 30 percent of victims lost their lives and 70 percent were disabled, with an average of 60 accidents a day.

Angola, he said, was going to pass from a transitional emergency phase to that of reconstruction, and mine clearance would have to take place throughout that process.

Some victims of mine accidents told the meeting about the circumstances in which these had taken place and the consequences, and the Julu theatrical group put on a play about the dangers and effects of mines.

The meeting was attended by representatives of the 14 SADC countries, NGOs, members of the diplomatic corps and other guests.

Assistance for quartering areas

Joaquim Miranda, head of a European Union delegation to Angola, said on 25 June that the UE would donate  125 million for food and medical assistance for quartering areas of Unita troops and their families. The EU and the Angolan government, he said, were currently discussing a strategy document that could mean a new financial package of US$150 million in humanitarian assistance.

'The international community has to see Angola as a priority in terms of emergency aid,' he said.

The Unicef office in Benguela gave medicines and teaching materials to the families of Unita troops quartered in Bocoio and Balombo. João Ulica, Unicef representative, said assistance would also be provided with water supplies, basic sanitation and education for school-age children.

The second part of a donation from Côte d'Ivoire, consisting of nine and a half tonnes of food and medicines for quartered Unita troops, arrived in Luanda on 22 June. It was a part of the 200 tonnes of food and medicines collected by the Abidjan government in response to the Angolan government's appeal.

The World Food Programme distributed food to the families of quartered troops in Peso Velho, Lunda Sul Province. António Muhongo, WFP representative, said they would be assisting around 33,900 people - war-displaced people, the families of quartered troops and displaced persons installed in new centres recently opened in the province.

On his return from Mozambique, where he had attended Frelimo's 7th congress, MPLA secretary-general João Lourenço said the congress had decided to propose that every Mozambican voluntarily contribute the equivalent of a day's pay to assist the quartering areas for Unita soldiers and their families in Angola.

A US government donation for the quartering areas arrived at Luanda airport on 22 May. It included blankets, tents, water cans, cooking utensils and other articles.

The Italian Embassy gave the Ministry of Health medicines worth US$25,000 for quartered Unita soldiers and their families.

Meanwhile, civil society responded to a government appeal. The Catholic Church and Angolan NGOs started to collect goods and money to help displaced persons.

30 tonnes of medicines distributed in Huíla Province

The Jornal de Angola reported on 20 June that the Huíla provincial government had acquired 30 tonnes of medicines to treat malaria, TB, pneumonia, respiratory diseases, acute diarrhoea and other illnesses affecting large numbers of people, especially the needy. These were distributed to the central hospital, sanatorium and maternity, paediatric and specialised units. Also acquired were reagents for detecting diseases.

Meanwhile, the local office of the Ministry of Health, in partnership with NGOs, sent health workers to the Galangue quartering area for Unita troops, to look into cases of malnutrition and disease.

Government appeal for aid for families of Unita troops

João Baptista Kussumua, Minister of Assistance and Social Reintegration, launched an urgent appeal on 13 June for US$65 million to provide food and medicines for a six-month period for around 400,000 relatives of Unita soldiers suffering from malnutrition. The needy people are in 37 localities in the country.

Kussumua read out the government appeal to members of the diplomatic corps and Ibrahim Gambari, UN Under-Secretary General for African Affairs.

The government, he said, had already provided US$20 million to assist Unita families and expected to raise its contribution by another US$30 million. The government's aid, the Minister said, would be provided mainly indirectly, through fuel price subsidies, exemptions of customs duties and airport and port charges, transport, storage and the distribution of goods.

Minister Kussumua announced the opening of two bank accounts, one in national currency and the other in foreign exchange, in which contributions might be deposited. The accounts are to be run by the Ministry of Finance, the National Commission for the Social and Productive Reintegration of Demobilised Troops, and Coiepa, a religious body representing civil society.

He stressed that the aim of the appeal was to save human lives, help to eliminate all factors that could endanger the peace process and national reconciliation, and ensure emergency assistance for the people in the quartering areas until they are resettled in their home areas.

Government asks Médecins Sans Frontières to be honest

The government has asked Médecins Sans Frontières for a little more reflection in its assessment of the humanitarian situation in the country and the involvement of those engaged in assisting those in need of food and medical aid in the country.

João Baptista Kussumua was responding to criticism made by MSF, which had accused the government and the United Nations of showing 'unacceptable inertia in their response to the urgent humanitarian needs of at least 600,000 Angolans'.

He acknowledged that the humanitarian situation was not good, but stressed the efforts being made by both the government and the UN to help the thousands of needy people, asking Médecins Sans Frontières to be honest in recognising the efforts of other humanitarian partners seeking to overcome the current crisis.

The United Nations also rejected the MSF accusations. Erick de Mul, UN humanitarian coordinator in Angola, issued a statement in which he 'expressed disappointment about the inaccurate and misleading press statement issued by MSF'.

Minister Kussumua was addressing a meeting of provincial governors in Luanda, on 13 June, to discuss the humanitarian situation in the country and the resettlement of displaced persons.

'The government wants to improve the living conditions of displaced persons, re-housing them properly and providing them with the means to grow food,' he said. The aim was to give them farm implements and arable land, so as to reduce the need for humanitarian aid, and to build schools and health posts.

Ecological youth body wins prize

Fátima Jardim, Minister of Fisheries and the Environment, has congratulated the Ecological Youth of Angola for winning the youth category of the Global 500 award for nature conservation work in Angola. The ceremony for the awarding of the prize, for which more than a hundred youth organisations from all over the world had competed, took place in Xieng Zen, in China.

Many visitors to Museum of Natural History

Francisca Costa of the Museum of Natural History said on 14 May that 8,368 people had visited the Museum of Natural History since it re-opened four months ago.

She said that apart from the displays, there were talks, film, video and slide shows, environmental education activities and art exhibitions at the museum. Cooperation agreements had been signed with the Science Faculty, the Institute of Fisheries Research, the Institute of Forestry

Development, the Vasco da Gama Aquarium in Brazil and the Transvaal Museum in South Africa.
The basic purpose of the Museum of Natural History, she said, was to investigate, classify and catalogue Angola's flora and fauna.

The Museum was set up after independence in order to conserve the exhibits of the former Museum of Angola, dating back to 1938. It was re-opened on 28 January 2002, completely refurbished after having been closed for ten years.

First laboratory of entomology

Angola has its first laboratory of entomology, set up to make detailed studies on the major vectors causing diseases like malaria and sleeping sickness, in the fight to eradicate them.
The laboratory, costing a total of US$38 million, was set up by the Ministry of Health, assisted by the Italian government. With the help of NGOs, small-scale firms were created to make mosquito nets impregnated with insecticide, while the La Sapienza University in Rome provided technical assistance.

Research has shown that the greatest incidence of malaria is in the north of the country. Studies have also been done in the provinces of Namibe, Cabinda and Luanda.

Compiled by Marga Holness