Conditions for peace being created

The peace and national reconciliation process underway in Angola since 4 April 2002 is creating conditions for normalising the lives of Angolans completely and for the rule of law. This was stated in Geneva on 25 March by Georges Chicoti, Deputy Minister of External Relations.

Addressing a meeting of the UN Human Rights Commission, he said the Angolan government was carrying out a mine clearance programme to permit the repair of communication lines and other economic and social facilities needed to restore free movement of people and goods, so as to reduce dependence on imports.

The peace progress was being consolidated, he said, with the resettlement of demobilised soldiers and displaced persons. But despite the government's efforts to guarantee the promotion and defence of human rights in Angola, Chicoti continued, the assistance of the international community was needed. And he again appealed to the international community to support the Angolan government in its national reconstruction efforts.

Security, stability and development, he said, were linked with human rights, justice and the fair distribution of national wealth.

On the question of human rights, he said the government was worried about isolated cases in different parts of the country. Violations of human rights were condemned by the Angolan government and steps were being taken to prevent their repetition, he added.

Referring to the war in Iraq, Chicoti said 'Angolans, who know the consequences of war from their direct experience, can in no way support a military solution'.

'The Angolan state shares the idea of a peaceful world and will continue to respect the norms of international law, United Nations and African Union resolutions and the fundamental interests of its people. The cohesion of the UN Security Council, as an instrument of peace in the world, would be important to achieving a peaceful solution to the Iraqi crisis,' he said.

Angola favours 'peaceful solution' for Iraq

President José Eduardo dos Santos said in Luanda on 14 March that any decision taken on the Iraq crisis should be within a United Nations framework. He was speaking at a summit meeting of the five African countries with Portuguese as their official language.

Stressing that Angola was well aware of the effects of war, in view of the long conflict it had experienced, the President said: 'As a member of the Security Council, Angola has particular responsibilities, since it will be called on to take a position on this issue. We are of course always in favour of a peaceful solution to conflicts and only agree to the use of force in extreme cases,' he said.

Prime Minister Fernando da Piedade Dias dos Santos stated on 18 March that the Angolan government would continue to respect the norms of international law and United Nations Security Council and African Union resolutions. Speaking in the National Assembly, where deputies had been given a detailed briefing on Angola's position on the question of Iraq, he thanked the deputies for their solidarity.

The parliamentarians expressed support for the position taken by the government and condemned the unilateralism shown by the United States by preparing to attack Iraq without UN authorisation.

MPLA deputy Paulo Jorge said that US intervention in Iraq could have unpredictable consequences, including the loss of thousands of innocent lives. Relegating the role of the UN to second place, he said, meant a new world order in which the United States would not respect the weak.

Jerónimo Wanga, leader of the Unita parliamentary group, asked the government to take steps to lessen the negative effects of war, adding: 'In the case of Iraq, we want the government to act solely within the framework of the United Nations.'

Bornito de Sousa, head of the MPLA parliamentary group, said that the imminence of a war not authorised by the UN, a pre-emptive attack, required of Angola a position in keeping with the predominant African opinion, national interests, the principles of international law and respect for human dignity.

At the end of the session, National Assembly president Roberto de Almeida asked deputies to follow the situation in Iraq closely.

New oil wells discovered in Block 17

Sonangol and TotalFina Elf announced the discovery of two new deepwater oil wells in Block 17 in a press release issued on 31 March This brings to fifteen the number of strikes in that block.
The first strike, Acacia 1, provided 13,712 barrels a day during tests, and the second, Hortensia 1, 5,092 barrels a day.

The first of the discoveries, named Girassol, started production in December 2001 and rapidly reached the current output of 200,000 barrels a day.

World Bank provides US$50 million in aid

The World Bank has approved two aid projects worth an estimated US$50 million, within the framework of the post-conflict transition and technical assistance strategy.

The projects, according to the World Bank, are aimed at improving transparency in the management of public resources and updating institutional policies, as prerequisites for economic growth.

They are also intended to promote economic stability, through support for the establishment of a programme to permit the reintegration into civilian life of 105,000 demobilised Unita soldiers and 33,000 from the Angolan army.

Nandó visits Zaire Province

Prime Minister Fernando da Piedade Dias dos Santos 'Nandó' has promised to work to revive economic life in Zaire Province. Speaking at a public rally in Mbanza Congo on 26 March, he said that he had chosen Zaire for his visit as Prime Minister because it was a 'heroic and combative province that has many difficulties'.

'We have to find solutions,' he continued. 'That is why we have brought ministers from important areas of our government to find out the real problems of the people.' Travelling with Nandó were the ministers of Finance, Oil, Agriculture and Rural development, Transport, Health and Information.

'We are not going to achieve miracles, but we are going to work to improve every municipality in this province,' he continued.

The government's priority, the PM said, was to combat hunger and poverty. 'So we have to produce enough for ourselves and sell the surplus,' he said, and he called on provincial authorities to provide hoes, ploughs and seeds for the people to increase agricultural production.

'Peace has come to stay,' Nandó said. 'The proof is that we are all here today, from different parties and religions.'

The ministerial delegation went to Soyo, where they visited the water treatment plant and the broadcasting station. They also went to the Kuanda base to visit oil projects and had meetings with local government officials, traditional chiefs and religious figures. Other visits were to the provincial hospital, the Congo Kingdom Museum and a housing project for local personnel.

Administration to be de-bureaucratised

Identifying formalities and administrative rituals in public services that can be removed without affecting public interests has been recommended by Pitra Neto, Minister of Public Administration, Employment and Social Security.

Speaking at the opening of a meeting to discuss a draft national de-bureaucratisation programme, he also noted the need to reduce or eliminate unnecessary controls and decisions that hindered innovation and speed in administrative activities.

He added that criteria and methods needed to be adopted to hold functionaries responsible for results rather than procedures.

'Hence the need for a national de-bureaucratisation programme that sets out a series of systematised practical, simple, effective and visible measures that institutions like the Ministries of Education, Health, Justice, Finance, Industry and Transport, among others, should use in relating to the public, companies and institutions in general,' he said.

The Minister asked the working commission set up for the programme to present proposals to the government within the shortest possible space of time.

Diamond company now 99% Angolan

Endiama, the national diamond company, is now almost completely Angolan. A meeting of the Council of Ministers on 17 March approved a memorandum on the policy of granting diamond mining rights, giving preference to Angolan companies.

The government authorised Endiama to rescind service, management and security contracts with the Stanwest Establishment and Wellox companies.

It also authorised Endiama and Sodiam SARL to form the Endiama Prospecting and Production Company which, in addition to diamond prospecting and mining, may engage in other industrial or commercial activities provided shareholders so permit.

The Council of Ministers approved the principles contained in the memorandum on the granting of diamond mining rights bearing in mind the need for rational extraction aimed at encouraging regional development, job creation and the building of social facilities in diamond provinces.

Preference is to be given to national companies in the granting of mining rights for alluvial deposits, whereas the principle in respect of kimberlites will be to grant rights to companies with technical and financial capacity, while ensuring that Endiama has a majority holding.

Angola could achieve agricultural self-sufficiency in four years

Gilberto Buta Lutucuta, Minister of Agriculture, said in Luanda on 13 March that, if there were no great changes in the meantime, Angola could achieve self-sufficiency in basic agricultural crops such as maize, beans, bananas, cassava and others within three or four years.

Addressing a meeting of the National Agricultural Mechanisation Company, he said that Angola could, in the near future, achieve the same agricultural capacity as before independence in 1975.
He said his Ministry's major concern was supporting small family enterprises, especially those working in the countryside.

'With medium and large-scale companies,' he said, 'we hope for the cooperation of agricultural entrepreneurs, both national and foreign. But wherever possible we want foreign companies to form partnerships with Angolans.'

The Minister went on to say that budget allocations for his Ministry were not sufficient for the countless tasks it wanted to carry out.

'We have few financial resources. We are going to attend to what we regard as priority areas,' he said.

Another great concern, he added, was supporting demobilised soldiers in agricultural areas.
His Ministry, which was working in cooperation with the Ministry of Assistance and Social Reintegration, was giving agricultural production kits, including seeds and fertilisers, to demobilised soldiers, he told the meeting.

Luanda government to combat anarchic building

Simão Paulo, Luanda provincial governor, said on 12 March that every effort was being made to put an end to anarchic building in the capital.

Speaking to a group of French businessmen, he said more attention would be paid to the rehabilitation and construction of facilities and to improving community services and living conditions.

The 25-member French delegation was in the country to see the current political, social and economic situation and to study the market.

In comments to the press the following day, Michel Rossin, head of the French delegation, said Angolan legislation was sufficiently attractive for foreign investors and protected and encouraged investment.

His delegation, he said, had already identified a number of sectors for immediate investment. They were telecommunications, health, banking, electricity, building, services and engineering, their preference being for non-oil sectors.

Road repairs in Kwanza Sul

Assorted equipment for the repair of roads and other facilities were handed over to the Kwanza Sul provincial government by Higino Carneiro, Minister of Public Works, on 12 March, who said he hoped this would enable the local government to carry through its programme to rehabilitate roads between municipalities and communes.

Provincial governor Serafim do Prado expressed thanks and said everything would be done to preserve the machinery.

The local government programme provides for the rehabilitation of 300 km of inter-municipal roads and 516 km of inter-communal ones.

Angola adheres to SADC Free Trade Area protocol

Angola has formally adhered to the SADC Free Trade Area protocol. The document to regulate the creation of a free trade area in the region was signed by Minister of External Relations João Miranda at the end of a meeting of the SADC Council of Ministers held in Luanda on 9 and 10 March.

It provides for the elimination of tariff and non-tariff barriers for an eight-year period and the gradual elimination of existing restrictions on imports from other member states.

About three years ago, the government ordered a study on the impact joining would have on the industrialisation of the country and last year it announced that it would join.

Huíla invests US$78 million in social projects

The Huíla provincial government has invested US$78 million in social projects over the past four years. Provincial governor Ramos da Cruz revealed that the main sources of funding had been local and central public investment, NGOs and the private sector.

Most, he said, had been spent on the rehabilitation and building of schools and hospitals, repairing secondary roads, building dams for agriculture and regularising power and water supplies.

Priorities for 2003 and 2004, he continued, were repairing facilities destroyed during the armed conflict and other social projects to benefit the population, through a financial package allocated by central government.

'The President of the Republic announced a programme for the whole country in Matala, and here in Huíla Province we will have two tranches of US$20 million each year.

We therefore plan to implement all the programmes approved by the standing commission of the Council of Ministers which, among other things, include rehabilitating facilities in municipalities that were totally abandoned during the war.'

Kwanza Sul to invest in fisheries, agriculture and transport

The Kwanza Sul provincial government is to invest US$16,318,660 in fisheries, agriculture and transport this year, within the framework of the Public Investment Programme.

Mateus de Brito, local government planning director, said that US$1,933,835 of this would be allocated for agriculture, to be spent on rehabilitating the Matumbo irrigation canal in Wako Kungo and opening up a third canal in the Sumbe green belt, as well as on acquiring draught and dairy cattle, seeds and farm tools for 4,182 peasant families.

He went on to say that US$384,822 had been earmarked for transport, aimed at increasing the capacity for monitoring different agricultural areas.

Finally, he said, US$14 million would be spent on acquiring fishing boats and building five wharfs at Kicombo, Sumbe and Porto Amboim.

Disarming of civilian population

According to the Jornal de Angola, the police are proposing ways of disarming the civilian population. The dossier will subsequently be submitted to the Council of Ministers for approval.

Commissioner Ambrósio Freire de Lemos, second in command of the police, said on 31 March that deadlines are being proposed for the voluntary handing in of weapons, as a way of contributing to peace in the country.

He added that disarming civilians should involve such institutions as churches and NGOs, as well as the police.

It is proposed that an inter-ministerial commission be formed to ensure the success of the gathering of weapons acquired by civilians during the war.

There have been recent appeals by the police asking people to hand over their weapons, in accordance with the provisions of Lusaka Protocol and the Memorandum of Understanding signed on 4 April 2002, almost exactly a year ago.

Training traditional midwives

The training of traditional midwives in Angola started in 1982 in four provinces - Bengo, Cabinda, Luanda and Malanje.

This was extended to the whole country in 1988, bringing the total number of midwives trained by the Ministry of Health to 1,608.

There was a new phase of training from 1996 to 2001, and today there are more than 5,700 midwives in the country.

Huambo to vaccinate more than 400,000 against measles

More than 400,000 children aged from 15 months to 15 years are to be vaccinated in Huambo during a campaign to start shortly. This was revealed to the Jornal de Angola by Ernesto Salomão, head of the programme.

Promoted by the provincial health department in partnership with Unicef, the World Health Organisation and the National Children's Institute, municipal supervisors are to take part in the campaign, and there are to be mobile brigades throughout the province.

The campaign is to start in schools and infant centres in urban areas, after which it will be carried out in rural areas. Salomão said it was hoped this time to reach previously inaccessible areas, so that the numbers vaccinated might be greater than planned.

Elias Finde, provincial health director, said the fact that there was now peace would facilitate the work of the vaccination brigades enormously. He said that all measures taken to wipe out endemic diseases would henceforth seek to cover all areas where target populations were.

Rebuilding work to start in Bié Province

The rebuilding of facilities destroyed in the war in Bié Province is expected to start within days. This was stated in Kuito by provincial governor José Amaro Tati on 22 March.

The first phase would be the partial rehabilitation of the city of Kuito to get rid of all the rubble, after which there would be a programme to improve services and goods for people in all parts of the province.

The programmes and resources for the work had already been approved by central government and the National Assembly, he said.

The governor described the current situation of centres for the displaced and reception areas for former Unita soldiers and their families as 'worrying', but said it was better than some time ago. There were previously 500,000 displaced persons in camps, but many of them had now returned to their home areas.

Owing to the work of the government, UN agencies, the Red Cross, Médecins Sans Frontières and other NGOs, the health situation in centres had also improved, and there was much less malnutrition.

Tati said a working committee had been set up to deal with the exhuming and reburial of more than 3,000 bodies that were buried all over the city during the fighting. For health reasons, this would not be started until the end of the rainy season and meanwhile a new cemetery was being built, he said.

Assessment of social reintegration

The National Commission for the Social and Productive Reintegration of Demobilised Soldiers, meeting in Luanda on 19 March, noted that the return of people to their home areas was going well, João Baptista Kussumua, Minister of Assistance and Social Reintegration, told the press.

The meeting, which was attended by provincial governors and heads of regional technical groups, also discussed problems of transporting and resettling demobilised soldiers and mine clearance.

The Minister said that according to information provided by regional technical groups, 153,222 people had already left reception centres, 36,218 of them former soldiers. He went on to say that provincial governors had been asked to present local programmes indicating mined areas and the means available to clear them, so as to include the data in central government programmes.

He expressed concern about the sudden arrival at reception areas as displaced persons of another 14,000 people, since it could affect the budget. The government's concern was a result of the fact that the initial figure put forward by Unita when the Luena memorandum was signed had been 50,000 soldiers and 250,000 dependents, but the number had now risen to 80,000 soldiers.

General Francisco Pereira Furtado, head of the committee supporting the reintegration of former soldiers, told the press that the inaccessibility of some of the reception areas was one of the major concerns of the armed forces.

This was especially the case in Kuando Kubango Province, where around 60,000 people were affected. However, he said, special attention was being paid to providing air and land transport to take people out of there as soon as possible.

He said that ten of the 35 reception areas in the country had already been closed and another five would be closed that week. Central government had set 31 March as the deadline for closing all reception areas.

Nearly 2.5 million displaced persons in the country

The number of displaced persons in Angola is 2.48 million people, including 280,000 living in camps and transit centres in the provinces of Bié, Huambo, Huíla, Kuando Kubango and Kwanza Sul.

This information was contained in a report by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance, OCHA, issued in Luanda on 12 March.

Citing the Angolan government, the report said that 110,477 former Unita soldiers and civilians had left reception areas.

The provinces with the largest number of people in reception areas were Kuando Kubango, Huambo, Kwanza Sul, Huíla and Bié.

Government reports indicated that more than a million and a half internally displaced persons had returned to their home areas, mainly in the provinces of Bié, Huambo, Huíla, Kwanza Sul and Malanje.

Apart from this, 91,366 Angolan refugees had returned spontaneously from neighbouringcountries, especially to the provinces of Kuando Kubango, Moxico, Uíge and Zaire.

Around a million Angolans, including internally displaced people, former soldiers and theirfamilies, and refugees, were expected to return to their home areas in the next few months.

The Technical Unit for the Coordination of Humanitarian Aid and the Ministry of Assistance and Social Reintegration were continuing to register people and to monitor returnees, using the national data base on resettlement.

Resettlement of returnees discussed

João Baptista Kussumua, Minister of Assistance and Social Reintegration, has presented the governors of the provinces of Moxico, Kuando Kubango, Lunda Norte, Cabinda and Uíge and the deputy governors of Malanje and Cunene with new plans for the resettlement of Angolan refugees returning from abroad. The meeting, also attended by representatives of the UN refugee agency, the UNHCR, took place on 9 March.

'The meeting,' he said, is to explain the plans with the representatives of provinces adjacent to countries that have provided shelter for the most Angolans, like Zambia, Namibia, South Africa and DR Congo, so that together we can identify the best places to resettle these people when they return,' he said.

An estimated 442,000 Angolans are expected to return, supported abroad and in Angola through the programme for displaced persons, assisted by the UNHCR.

The Minister said local governments needed to assess the conditions being created and to work to ensure that the returnees were properly received. 'The most important thing now is to continue implementing the programme,' he said.

Government building schools in Kwanza Sul

Pedro Sabino Veríssimo, provincial director of education in Kwanza Sul, told Angop on 9 March that around 12,960 more children in the province would be enrolled in the education system on the completion of 21 schools being built within the framework of the local government's Public Investment Programme.

He added that there were an estimated 300,000 children and young people outside the normal school system and that another 1,700 teachers were needed.

There are 323 schools in Kwanza Sul and enrolment this school year of 123,533 pupils. Of these, 110,575 are children and the remainder adults.

Mine clearance programme approved

It was reported on 16 March that the Ministry of Assistance and Social Reintegration had drawn up a mine clearance programme that had just been approved by the government.

Prepared with the support of the Angolan Armed Forces, the programme aimed at ensuring the solution of the main problems caused by mines laid in the country, preventing accidents and normalising the life of the people, giving priority to areas where people directly affected by the war were being resettled.

This would permit the carrying out of emergency aid programmes and other social and economic action.

According to a press statement issued by the secretariat of the Council of Ministers, the government would be essentially responsible for the programme, supported by former soldiers specialised in engineering and familiar with mined areas, NGOs and the international community.

Minister João Baptista Kussumua said the programme would give priority to the provinces of Bié, Huambo, Kuando Kubango, Lunda Norte, Uíge, Malanje and Cunene, where there had been the fiercest fighting.

Coxe Sucama, director of the national institute for the removal of mines and unexploded ordnance, Inaroee, said on 9 March that 380 minefields had been located in Bié Province. This had been possible, he said, thanks to the combined efforts of de-mining institutions like Inaroee and the Halo Trust, as well as men from FAA, former Unita soldiers and the civilian population.

Alberto Guilherme, provincial director of Inaroee in Uíge, told Angop that Inaroee had removed 827 landmines in the province in 2002. The mines, he said, had been destroyed on roads and paths and in agricultural fields. He added that there were 132 minefields in Uíge still awaiting demining.

Inaroee, Guilherme said, had agreed to take on experts from Unita's former military forces for the demining of Uíge and Negage airports. Inaroee's brigade in Uíge consisted of 56 experts, which he said was not enough, considering the size of the province.

Meanwhile, in Bié Province, Gonçalves Mateus, coordinator of the mine education and accident prevention programme, said that in the past few months 4,500 people in the province had attended mine awareness sessions.

These included talks, theatrical sketches and other methods of emphasising the dangers of mines.

The programme, he said, had been extended to cover reception centres for former Unita soldiers in Nharea and the village of Ndele.

Kussumua hands over work tools in Caála

João Baptista Kussumua, Minister of Assistance and Social Reintegration, handed over 25,000 work tools in Caála, Huambo Province, in early March, to assist 250,000 demobilised Unita soldiers and their families.

The Minister was visiting the province to assess fulfilment of the programme for the reintegration into society of demobilised troops and a small number of displaced persons still in the city of Huambo.

Former Unita soldiers contacted welcomed the opportunity to grow their own food and disagreed with recent statements by Unita secretary-general Paulo Lukamba Gato claiming that the government had done nothing to help demobilised soldiers since the agreements.

Electric power restored in Tchikala Tcholohanga

The inhabitants of Tchikala Tcholohanga, 42 km from the city of Huambo, have electricity in their homes again following the installation of a new generator set. António Francisco, the local official in charge of power supply, said the small town had been without power since 1998, as a result of war destruction.

The new generator set acquired by the provincial government will provide power only for homes and the system will later be extended to street lighting.

Carnival groups win prizes

Following the 26th Luanda Carnival since independence, held on 4 March, the winning groups were awarded prizes at the Calemba cultural centre. Sixteen groups had taken part, thirteen adult ones and three children's groups.

Judged on the basis of the best dancing, choreography and music, among other things, the winning group was the Uniåo Mundo da Ilha, representing the people of Luanda Island and winners in nine previous carnivals, who were awarded US$10,000.

In second and third place were the União Kiela and the União 10 de Dezembro, while the União Cassules da Cacimba came first among the children's groups.

Compiled by Marga Holness