Major reform of legal system planned

The Angolan legal system is to undergo large-scale reform following the appointment by President José Eduardo dos Santos on 30 April of a working group to prepare a diagnostic of the legal situation in the country.

This is to include not only institutional, legislative and sociological aspects, but also such factors as human and material resources.

The group, coordinated by Carlos Maria Feijó, adviser to the President on regional and local affairs, is also to present a timetable for action to be taken in legal bodies and for reforming the legal system.

It is to present its first report within six months and is to examine the amendment of legislation in the areas of civil, criminal, administrative, customs and tax law.

Lusophone countries to expand defence programmes

The armed forces of the Community of Portuguese-speaking Countries, CPLP, are to expand defence programmes.

This was one of the decisions taken during a meeting of the chiefs of general staff of the seven countries that ended in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on 24 April.

During the days of talks in preparation for a meeting of the CPLP Ministers of Defence in May, they discussed the international situation, the holding of exercises and cooperation agreements.

‘Some countries are going to offer military courses in various areas,’ said Ronald Silva Marques of the Brazilian Ministry of Defence.

The participants also discussed the statutes and the 2003 programme for the Centre of Strategic Analysis, a CPLP institution set up for military training and studies which is based in Maputo.

Miranda visits Zimbabwe

On his return from Zimbabwe on 24 April, João Bernardo Miranda, Minister of External Relations, described the situation in that country as ‘still critical’, but said there were good prospects for future improvements. Speaking to the press, he said the main purpose of his three-day official visit to Zimbabwe had been to strengthen relations between the two countries.

Relations were excellent, he said, but economic cooperation needed boosting. Agriculture was a potential area for cooperation, he added, and the Zimbabweans had put forward practical proposals in respect of trade.

The second purpose was political, Miranda continued, in view of Angola’s current position as chair of SADC. ‘We sought the most up-to-date and credible information on the economic, social and political situation in the country,’ he said.

The Minister described as ‘very productive’ the meetings he had had with President Mugabe, with the speaker of the parliament, with Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, and with the ministers of Agriculture, Agrarian Reform and Trade.

Former Unita generals sworn in

Generals from the former Unita army were sworn in to new positions in the Angolan Armed Forces, FAA, on 2 April, almost exactly a year after the end of the war, following their appointment by FAA commander in chief José Eduardo dos Santos.

The former chief of the high command of FALA, Savimbi’s army, Abreu Kamorteiro, was sworn in as deputy chief of staff of FAA and Arlindo Samuel Kapingala ‘Samy’ became chair of the military discipline council.

Altogether fourteen former Unita officers took the oath of allegiance to the country, undertaking to abide by the constitution, national legislation and military regulations, and to work with general staff headquarters in areas to which they are appointed, after attending a military training course.

Others included Alberto Kanhanga, now promoter in the military discipline council, Alcebiades Chindombe, deputy head of the troop preparation directorate, Artur Vinama, deputy inspector at general staff headquarters, Elias Pedro, to work in the communications directorate, Joaquim França, deputy commander of the military academy, Vasco Chimuco, second in command of the Luanda garrison, and Wilson Muzengo, head of the armaments and vehicles directorate.

New diamond mining project

The Laurica diamond mining project is the first major undertaking since the signing of the peace agreements. Inaugurated on 27 April by Manuel Africano, Minister of Geology and Mines, it is located in what is regarded a diamond-rich area. Evidence of this was a 28-carat stone extracted there the previous week.

Forecasts were 800,000 carats over a six-year period, providing income of about US$170 million.

The Minister said that the project - the result of a partnership between Endiama, the national diamond company, and the South African firm Trans Hex - was the kind of undertaking that would make the diamond sector fundamental to the country’s social and economic development and prosperity.

The Minister gave assurances that the government would continue to take steps to strengthen security and organisation, especially in combating illegal mining and trafficking.

The new rough diamond certification system, the Kimberley process, had started to be used in Angola early this year for diamonds sold on the international market, he said.

Minister of Finance Pedro de Morais said that projects on the scale of Laurica were ‘a considerable asset’, making it possible to rehabilitate a vast network of highways to Lunda Norte Province, as well as bridges, schools and clinics.

Meanwhile, local roads and the Lucapa airport needed to be upgraded, he said.

Government approves funds to build diamond polishing centre

The Council of Ministers, meeting in Luanda on 24 April, approved financing to build a diamond polishing plant in Angola.

Manuel Arnaldo Calado, president of the administrative board of Endiama, said this would be a great asset to the diamond industry, making it unnecessary to export rough diamonds.

He added that a group to finance the project had already been identified.

Referring to the diamond marketing system, he said the Angola Selling Corporation, Ascorp, would continue to deal with the informal market and Sodiam with the formal one.

During the meeting the Council of Ministers also approved salary increases for lecturers at Agostinho Neto University, magistrates and members of the Angolan Armed Forces and of the Ministry of the Interior.

Industrial exhibition in Luanda

One hundred and twenty firms had stands at the Constrói-Angola (Build Angola) exhibition that opened in Luanda on 23 April.

With sections on construction, public works, transport, telecommunications and information systems, it was organised by the Angolan Industrial Association, the Portuguese firm Expolíder and Expo-Angola, organisers of Luanda’s industrial fairs.

Most of the companies were Portuguese ones, many of them already operating in Angola.

One of the most popular stands was Emanha, which is the first industry in Angola to produce granite slabs and tiles. Fátima Carriço, manager of Emanha, said they were receiving many orders and were preparing to start the first exports to Portugal. The company supplies black granite from Huíla Province and grey and red granite from Namibe Province.

Speaking at the opening of the exhibition, Aguinaldo Jaime, assistant Minister to the Prime Minister, stressed the need for national and foreign investors to work together to rebuild Angola’s economy.

Solar energy for rural areas

Botelho de Vasconcelos, Minister of Energy and Water, has said that the government plans to ease the problem of power supplies in rural areas by installing solar panels. He added that experiments were already in progress in the provinces of Bengo, Namibe and Malanje.

‘They are fairly low investment projects. We can provide power for health centres, police stations, local administration buildings, for pumps needed for water supplies,’ he said.

In Kwanza Norte Province earlier, the Minister said they would be rehabilitating the power grid in Ndalatando, supplied by the Cambambe hydro-electric dam, and also increasing water supplies by reviving the Mucari project suspended in the eighties.

Botelho de Vasconcelos has also announced that a hydro-electric scheme will soon be built on the Kuebe River in Menongue, capital of Kuando Kubango Province.

Work would start, he said, as soon as material stored in Namibe Province arrived. He was speaking on 23 April, at the end of a working visit to Kuando Kubango to identify energy and water problems in the region.

The electricity grid and water supply system would also be repaired, he said, having noted that some parts of the city had only irregular supplies, owing to a shortage of fuel and the fact that the existing systems are extremely old.

Fresh water fishing in Lunda Sul

With a view to improving the life of the peasants by increasing fish catches, 600 families in Lunda Sul Province have been given nets, canoes and other fishing equipment provided by the government at a cost of US$30,000. The head of the provincial fisheries department, quoted by the Jornal de Angola on 23 April, said this had enabled them to increase catches from an average of 5kg a day to about 20kg, and even better catches were expected when the rainy season ended. Given the experience of the fishermen and the abundance of fish in rivers, he was very optimistic about future results.

Meanwhile, the agricultural department provided seeds and farm tools for a group of peasants in the Ginga Bbandi association, about 20km northeast of the provincial capital Saurimo.

Domingos Melany Uquete, head of the department, said the hoes and machetes and 200 kg of fertiliser and 50kg of maize seeds were aimed at revitalising agriculture in the province.

Luanda gains 10,600 new phone lines

With the opening of a new telephone exchange in Luanda by the public company Angola Telecom, 10,600 new lines became available to people in the São Paulo, Rangel and Cuca neighbourhoods.

The number of lines at the São Paulo exchange can be increased to 50,000, according to Manuel César of Angola Telecom.

He said the company had prepared a feasibility study on the installation of new exchanges in other provinces, and negotiations between Angola Telecom and the Japanese government were currently taking place.

With Japanese funding, he went on to say, it was planned to repair and gradually replace the network of cables that was installed more than 45 years ago.

Angolan projects on NEPAD agenda

The Jornal de Angola reported on 15 April that a report of a recent SADC meeting on the New Partnership for African Development had listed projects that Angola planned to carry out with the help of the international community.

These include the rehabilitation of the Lobito Corridor, aimed at restoring the Benguela railway. This involves also the repair of the streets of Benguela and the expansion of the port of Lobito. The project, to cost an estimated US$40 million, includes the restoration of communications, of the Kuito, Benguela and Luena airports and of the water supply system.

Another project is the Malanje Development Corridor, covering a series of undertakings aimed at linking important mining areas in the east with the northwestern seaboard. Essential aspects of this are the rehabilitation of the Malanje Railway and its extension to Dundo and diamond areas in DR Congo, and the rebuilding of the port of Luanda, to cost more than US$65.5 million.

A third project, to cost an estimated US$38 million, involves repairing the highway from Lubango to Namibia, developing projects of mutual interest in that neighbouring country and improvements to Namibia’s major port.

According to the report, Angola is also part of the Upper Zambezi International Tourism Initiative, a project involving also Namibia, Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe, to build an integrated zone for the development of eco-tourism.

South African bankers identify projects

Following a working visit from 7 to 12 April, a delegation from the Southern African Development Bank identified investment projects in Angola worth an estimated US$600 million.

During talks with representatives of Angola’s Savings and Credit Bank, it was agreed that further meetings were needed to establish priorities and timetables, and that some of the projects might start by the end of the year.

During their stay in Angola, the members of the South African delegation also had meetings with the Ministries of Public Works, Planning and Finance, as well as with representatives of Angolan companies.

World Bank economic package

The executive directors of the World Bank have approved a 15-year economic package for Angola worth US$125 million.

The Jornal de Angola reported that Darius Mans, the World Bank’s director for Angola and Mozambique, was expected in Angola on 13 April for a week-long stay during which he would present to the government and the donor community the recently approved transitional strategy support programme for Angola and planned World Bank activities in Angola.

The World Bank also approved technical assistance and macro-economic management projects, a programme of support for the demobilisation and reintegration of former soldiers, an anti-Aids project and financing for Angola’s Social Support Fund.

World Bank activities, the newspaper reported, are aimed at strengthening the transparency, efficiency and credibility of public resource management, as well as increasing the provision of services to war-affected areas and vulnerable groups.

Legislation to protect rights of HIV positive workers

The government is to introduce legislation on the right to work of HIV/Aids-affected people. This was announced 29 April by the Ministry of Public Employment and Social Security in the municipality of Cazenga, Luanda, at the start of an HIV/Aids at the workplace awareness campaign.

Simão Paulo, governor of Luanda Province, spoke of the need for a law to establish the norms and procedures to be observed by employers, based on respect for the rights of the individual.

He recalled that the constitution enshrines the right to work and medical care without any discrimination. Hence the need to ban the marginalisation of affected people in workplaces. What these people needed, he added, was solidarity to help lessen their difficulties.

Vocational training for street children in Bié

Street children in Kuito, capital of Bié Province, will soon be attending vocational training courses aimed at reintegrating them into society. Benvinda Gomes, provincial director of the National Children’s Institute, said the purpose was to prepare them for a better future.

They were to be given courses in carpentry, electricity, masonry, metal working and other trades enabling them to earn a living, she said.

The project, she added, was supported by various government institutions and national and foreign NGOs.

Children reunited with families

Alda Chapanga Pedro, acting provincial head of the Ministry of Assistance and Social Reintegration’s children’s department, said on 27 April that another 76 children separated from their families during the war had been reunited with them during the first quarter of the year.

She said that during the same period her department had registered another 65 children separated from their families by war and 43 adults looking for children and other relatives. A further 28 children who had taken an active part in the armed conflict had returned from the provinces of Luanda, Cabinda and Moxico, she said.

‘Following reunification, the children’s department makes monitoring visits for three months, to assess the social conditions of the younger children,’ she said.

National vaccination campaign against measles officially opened

The national vaccination campaign against measles was officially opened on 21 April at the Cazenga School Complex in Luanda. It was attended by President José Eduardo dos Santos, who administered a dose of vitamin A to a child who was then vaccinated.

The ceremony was attended by Roberto de Almeida, president of the National Assembly, Simão Paulo, governor of Luanda, Albertina Hamukwaia, Minister of Health, Carol Bellamy, executive director of Unicef, Cardinal Alexandre do Nascimento and members of the diplomatic corps. The aim announced during the ceremony was to vaccinate seven million children, 1.7 million of them in Luanda alone.

The current campaign against measles, the fifth major cause of deaths in children aged under five, is to take place in three stages. During the first, children in schools, crèches and orphanages in urban centres are to be given vitamin A and vaccinated. The second phase is to cover children in hospitals and at vaccination posts in urban neighbourhoods. Finally, children in rural areas are to be inoculated, with the campaign ending on 19 May.

After a meting with President José Eduardo dos Santos the following day, Carol Bellamy said that last year Unicef had spent US$24 million on its programmes in Angola, and the amount would now be increased.

She congratulated President dos Santos for his presence at the start of the measles vaccination campaign and for heading the national anti-HIV/Aids commission, which she said Unicef would support. They also discussed the need to continue investment in health and education.

During this third visit to Angola, the Unicef executive director went to Malanje Province to take part in a ‘back to school’ programme.

Vocational training equipment for former Unita soldiers

The Jornal de Angola reported on 22 April that equipment for training former Unita soldiers had arrived in the provinces of Bengo, Bié, Kwanza Sul, Huambo and Benguela. The material included reading primers, textbooks, tents, radio equipment, generators and t-shirts, among other things. Some of the provinces have itinerant training units, as had already been used in Bengo Province.

The areas in which training is being given include agriculture, livestock production, carpentry, masonry, electricity and metal-working.

Special courses had been given to instructors, and courses were already underway in Bengo and Huíla, the newspaper reported. Those attending courses would be given final certificates.

New higher education centres for provinces

Zaire Province will have a branch of the Faculty of Economics in the 2004 academic year, according to Capela Tepa, dean of the faculty. Speaking during a working visit to Mbanza Congo and Soyo, he said that once the local authorities had created the material conditions, the Faculty of Economics could, initially, provide teaching staff.

Starting this academic year, Bengo Province is to have two higher education centres, one for economics and the other for pedagogy. This was stated by Carlos Alberto Cavukila, deputy provincial governor for economic affairs, during the opening of a series of events to mark Angolan Youth Day, celebrated on 14 April.

He added that the government was also going to repair the Dande stadium this month, at a cost of more than US$1 million.

Meanwhile, the main rally to mark Angolan Youth Day was held in Malanje Province. Marcos Barrica, Youth Minister, arrived a few days earlier. He visited newly rehabilitated schools and had a meeting with the local Youth Council. His programme also included the opening of a computer room at the Esquadrão Bomboco primary and secondary school and a visit to the 1 May sports stadium.

Musicians from Luanda were also in Malanje to take part in the rally, which was held in a square named after Hoji Ya Henda, a guerrilla fighter whose death in the anti-colonial war is commemorated each year on 14 April.

Provincial governments discuss repatriation

Meeting in Luanda on 14 April, representatives of provinces adjacent to neighbouring countries discussed with representatives of the Ministry of Assistance and Social Reintegration and the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, strategies for the repatriation of Angolan refugees abroad.

The repatriation procedures to be followed in countries of asylum were outlined to officials from the Lunda Norte, Moxico, Kuando Kubango, Uíge, Zaire, Cabinda and Cunene provincial governments. Other issues discussed were action to be taken by different provincial bodies, the registration of returnees and care for children.

Under an agreement signed by Angola, Zambia and the UNHCR on the establishment of a commission for the voluntary repatriation of refugees, special measures are to be taken to ensure that vulnerable groups among the refugees receive proper protection, assistance and care during the repatriation and reintegration process. The UNHCR is to seek funding from the international community for the programme.

Nilsa Batalha, coordinator of the repatriation commission, said international repatriation norms had been discussed, legal aspects under the refugee convention and UNHCR recommendations on lasting solutions for refugees. She added that provincial representatives had also raised important questions on the regulations and norms for the return and resettlement of internally displaced people.

The UNHCR announced the following day in Geneva that more than 70,000 Angolans had spontaneously returned to their country since early this year. Of these, 47,000 had already been registered by the authorities or by NGOs working with the UNHCR. Most of them were from DR Congo and Zambia.

France provides humanitarian aid

France granted Angola  11 million in humanitarian and sustainable development aid in 2002, and this year it is to grant another  20.1 million.

A French Embassy source said: ‘In order to respond to the post-conflict situation, French cooperation in 2002 was geared to emergency humanitarian aid, as a contribution to consolidating the peace process and resettling displaced persons.’

This year emergency aid would continue, the source continued, giving priority to public health and demining in the provinces of Huambo and Malanje. French development aid was essentially for technical assistance programmes in the health system related to diagnosing and treating TB, Aids and sleeping sickness.

Symposium on the role of women

Lúzia Inglês, secretary-general of the Organisation of Angolan Women, OMA, said on 7 April that women warranted special treatment since they had suffered the greatest hardships in the war. Addressing a symposium on the role of women in the post-war period, she said the new era of peace opened up new prospects for the advancement of women in Angola.

‘Combating illiteracy and poverty, ensuring training, primary health care and safe motherhood are some of the aspects that cannot be postponed if we want to promote women’s full participation in the country’s social, political and economic life,’ she said.

In his address, João Baptista Kussumua, Minister of Assistance and Social Reintegration, said that a priority task was to reintegrate into society around four million displaced persons, 200,000 soldiers demobilised as a result of the signing of the Bicesse and Lusaka accords and the Memorandum of Understanding, about 400,000 dependents of former Unita soldiers who were leaving reception areas, 450,000 refugees in neighbouring countries and a significant number of war veterans. In this process, he said, special attention needed to be paid to women.

‘All policies on rural areas aimed at resettling people affected by the armed conflict and promoting rural development must be geared to women and the family,’ he said, stressing the need to continue the policy of granting agricultural credits, so as to ensure a better and greater distribution of national wealth.

MPLA secretary-general João Lourenço said his party would henceforth seek to increase the number of women in its leading bodies. The MPLA, he said, had always given greater importance to the role of women and had the largest proportion of women deputies, while there were quite a few women ministers.

More reception areas closed

João Baptista Kussumua, Minister of Assistance and Social Reintegration, revealed on 2 April that 28 reception areas, in the provinces of Bengo, Moxico, Zaire, Bié, Kwanza Norte, Lunda Norte and Huambo, had been closed. This had enabled 241,589 people – 56,002 demobilised troops and 185,587 of their dependents - to return to their home areas between November 2002 and 29 March 2003.

Addressing a meeting of the Humanitarian Coordination Group, he said the reintegration of former Unita soldiers and their families had gone well. Factors contributing to the success of the process had been the distribution of food and non-food aid, the allocation of funds for vocational training and placement in jobs, especially in health and education.

One year after the signing of the Luena Memorandum of Under-standing, the Minister went on to say, 1,765,092 displaced persons had returned to their home areas.

Kussumua appealed to the international community to continue active humanitarian aid to Angola, despite the emergence of new crises in the world like the one in Iraq. He said the country was counting on assistance from international donors for acquiring basic agricultural equipment like hoes, machetes, axes and tractors, to be used to help people to be reintegrated in productive life.

Apart from generating self-employment, he said, this would help to boost output more rapidly, leading to food self-sufficiency.

A year after the achievement of peace, the Minister said, the humanitarian situation had, generally speaking, improved, though efforts were still needed to normalise people’s lives by reintegrating displaced persons, demobilised soldiers and former Angolan refugees abroad.

Erick de Mul, coordinator of UN humanitarian aid in Angola, stressed the need for continued funding from donors. He expressed concern about the fact that the UN’s humanitarian appeal for Iraq was bigger than all this year’s other appeals combined, adding that he hoped donors would not ignore Angola, since this would destroy efforts to consolidate peace, depriving millions of people of aid.

Speaking to the Jornal de Angola on 7 April, Erick de Mul said he thought the Angolan government should postpone the donor’s conference scheduled, in principle, to be held in Brussels in May. It would not be useful to hold it then, he said, because world attention was now concentrated on Iraq.

Women money exchangers to receive micro-credits

Women who exchange money in the streets, known as kinguilas, are to benefit from a micro-credit programme organised by the Ministry of the Family and the Advancement of Women, to enable them to have another occupation.

Maria Carvalho, chair of the National Committee of Women Trade Unionists, said on 1 April that the decision had been taken after meetings with Filomena Delgado, Deputy Minister of the Family, to discuss the need to provide new opportunities for the women.

Members of her committee, she said, had been recording the numbers of kinguilas in Luanda. They were also going to contact Angolan economists to ask them to do feasibility studies, with a view to women with sufficient capital opening their own bureaux de change.

She appealed to all kinguilas to go to the Informal Market Union to fill in the forms and attend a small company management course to be given with the support of the Ministry of the Family.

Landmine awareness work in Benguela Province

Around two thousand people in the municipality of Bocoio, 110 km from the city of Benguela, attended meetings on the dangers of landmines during the month of March.

A source involved with the education programme to prevent landmine accidents said awareness meetings had been held, attended by men, women, children and old people.

The source added that 18 speakers had given talks in the communes of Cubal, Lumbo, Passe, Monte Belo and Chila, but they needed more transport facilities to help them to travel to different parts of the province.

Bié is one of the most heavily mined provinces, and a number of specialised NGOs are engaged in clearing minefields.

Seminar on disarming of civilians

A seminar on collecting arms held by civilians opened in Sumbe, capital of Kwanza Sul Province, in early April.

During the two-day event organised by the provincial police, the participants discussed the importance of stability and public law and order and the problems of the proliferation, traffic and use of firearms.

Police Commander Oliveira Santos said that the collection of firearms would greatly help the police in combating armed banditry.

‘Weapons cause delinquency, which is why we need a strategy for collecting them,’ he said.

The seminar, promoted by the Angolan Adult Education Association, was attended by members of political parties, representatives of NGOs, churches and traditional authorities, and journalists.

Red Cross repairing facilities in Uíge Province

Since the beginning of the year, the provincial delegation of the Angolan Red Cross in Uíge has been repairing some social facilities destroyed during the war.

Afonso Pereira, the local representative of the Red Cross, told Angop on 1 April that these included a primary school in Kazanda, the Kauenda health post and the Gunga Kixima water canalisation system, 8 km from the city of Uíge.

He said the work had been financed by the Food Crop Development Programme.

Unicef donates vehicle for child reunification programme

The UN Children’s Fund has donated a Toyota to the Huambo provincial office of the Ministry of Assistance and Social Reintegration to support the programme to reunite minors with their families.

About 16,000 children needed to be taken to various parts of the country. By early April, 1,781 children had been reunited with their families by the Ministry, supported by Unicef.