Day: June 8, 2022

Luanda – Four new ambassadors, with non-resident status, delivered, Wednesday in Luanda their respective Credentials to the President of the Republic, João Lourenço.

In separate ceremonies, held at Presidential Palace, the Angolan Head of State received Letters of Credentials from the ambassadors of Pakistan Murad Baseer, New Zealand Emma Dunipo-Bennet, Qatar Tariq Al Faraj Al-Ansari, and of Ireland Ralph Victor.

At the end of credentials hand-over ceremony, the Angolan statesman held a ten-minute private talk with each of the diplomats, with whom he discussed issues of common interest.

The ambassadors of New Zealand and Qatar reside in South Africa, Pakistan in Zimbabwe and Ireland in Portugal, where they also represent the political and diplomatic interests of their respective countries.

Source: Angola Press News Agency

Luanda – The ruling MPLA party Wednesday in Luanda forwarded to the Constitutional Court (TC) its candidacy for the general elections of 24 August this year, thus becoming the first political organisation to formalise its proposal.

The candidacy was presented by its representative, Pedro Neto, who arrived at the Palace of Justice and headquarters of the Constitutional Court, precisely at 09:50 local time (08:50 GMT), accompanied by the Party’s vice president, Luísa Damião.

The move follows the call for elections by the President of the Republic, João Lourenço, on 3 June, after favorable opinions from the National Electoral Commission (CNE) and the TC on the existence of conditions for this purpose.

In the candidacy presented, the MPLA will compete on a list led by its current president, João Lourenço, as a candidate for his own succession as head of State.

The second position is occupied by Esperança Maria Eduardo Francisco da Costa, current Secretary of State for Fisheries, who will run for Vice-President of the Republic.

The submission period of candidacies, which began last Monday (06), will run until the 25th June.

After this phase, political parties will have 10 days to respond to any irregularities or shortcomings in the processes submitted.

The MPLA is part of the 13 political parties already qualified to compete, along with others such as UNITA, the FNLA, the PRS (Party for Social Renewal), the Bloco Democratico (BD) and the Aliança Patriótica Nacional (APN).

The other contestants are P-NJANGO (National Party for Justice in Angola), Angolan Humanist Party (PHA) and CASA-CE coalition – comprising five parties.

In the last general elections, held in 2017, the MPLA won the vote with 61.08 percent of the votes, which enabled it to gain the current 150 MPs in a 220-seat Parliament.

The MPLA was founded on December 10, 1956, as a national liberation movement against Portuguese colonialism, before becoming a political party after independence in 1975.

Since then, it has been at the forefront of the country’s destinies, first under the leadership of Agostinho Neto (1975-1979) and, later, of José Eduardo Santos (1979-2017), João Lourenço’s predecessor.

Ideologically based on democratic socialism, the MPLA proclaims as its flag the defence of social justice, humanism, freedom, equality and solidarity.

It ruled as a single party from independence until 1991, when Angola moved from single-party to pluralist democracy with the first general elections held in September 1992.

It won, by an absolute majority, in all the elections already held, with 53.74 percent of the votes (1992), 81 percent (2008), 71.84 percent (2012) and 61.08 percent (2017).

The vote corresponded, respectively, to 129, 191, 175 and 150 MPs in Parliament against 70, 16, 32 and 51 for UNITA, its main opponent.

Source: Angola Press News Agency

Cabinda – The heads of Defence and Security Organs of the Military Regions of Cabinda (Angola) and Kouilou (Republic of Congo) met on Tuesday at the common border of Massabi/Nzassi to implement actions in the scope of the resolutions of the meeting of the interior ministers of the two countries, held last May.

During the meeting, several actions to be developed between the Defence, Security and Internal Order bodies of Cabinda and Kouilou/Republic of Congo were concerted, especially on issues related to security along the common border.

The Angolan delegation was led by the commander of the Cabinda Military Region, Amílcar Eugénio “Trovão”, while the Congolese delegation was led by Jean Ollessongo Ondaye, commander of Military Defence No. 1 Kouilou Region. The parties analysed joint strategies to guarantee a better security of the common border, characterized by calm, despite the existence of cases of illegal immigration and fuel trafficking.

Aspects related to the fulfillment of the recommendations of the bilateral meeting of interior ministers were also analysed, where it was oriented to hold permanent meetings between defence, security and internal order authorities of Cabinda province (Angola) and the departments (provinces) of Kouilou and Ponta-Negra (Republic of Congo), in order to remedy situations of security alteration along the common border and to carry out coordinated actions to combat illegal immigration, fuel smuggling and cross-border crimes.

Source: Angola Press News Agency

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) says it regrets the decision of Malis head of state Colonel Assimi Goïta, to extending the duration of the transition by 24 months from March 26, 2022.

The regional bloc in a statement on Tuesday expressed dissapointment that that the decision was taken at a time when negotiations are still taking place to reach a consensus.

ECOWAS however said its mediator will continue discussions with the Malian authorities, with a view to reaching a mutually acceptable timetable for the transition

Mali’s ruling junta, which first came to power in an August 2020 coup, issued a decree on Monday fixing the 24-month timetable, to be counted from March 2022.

The 15-member bloc has been pushing for a shorter extension of at most 16 months. In January, ECOWAS imposed sanctions after Malis junta said it would not organise democratic elections the following month as initially planned.

Heads of state from ECOWAS member countries are expected to hold another summit on Mali before July 3.

Source: Angola Press News Agency

Luanda – The reconciliation of studies and sports practice by the country’s children and youths should be a priority in order for them to be successful in their careers, the Minister of Youth and Sports, Ana Paula do Sacramento Neto said today in Luanda.

Speaking to the press, after receiving the national judo and wrestling teams, which won medals at the African championships (Algeria and Morocco), the minister said that the combination of the two activities allows a better understanding of the aspects inherent to the practitioners.

She added that there is currently a great effort to attract talents to practice the sport and that they should be better accompanied by the trainers. This also encourages practitioners to reconcile the binomial study and sport.

“My appeal is that reconciling school and sport increases the intelligence capacity of those who practice it. The better understanding and assimilation of the training contents taught by the coaches, therefore, a big step in the search for positive results,” he said.

Still in the meeting, Ana Paula do Sacramento Neto, also highlighted the current movement of individual modalities, which lately have won many medals for the country, especially jiu-jitsu and mixed martial arts (MMA).

On judo, the minister argued that being an Olympic modality, it deserves due treatment to reach the next Olympic Games in Paris2024.

On fights, while also expressing his delight for the medal, he promised to work with the federation in order for the country to be well represented at the world championship in Serbia, in October, by the fighter Jones Mabungo (82 kg), after having won the bronze medal in Morocco.

Source: Angola Press News Agency

Luanda – The Angolan Skating Federation (FAP) has stipulated the amount of 500 million kwanzas for the participation in the African and World Championships, to be held this year.

The continental event will take place as from 28 September to 2 October, in Cairo (Egypt), while the world championship will be held from 2 to 13 November, in San Juan, Argentina.

Besides roller hockey, Angola will participate in both competitions with figure skating and freestyle.

The president of the federation, Dionísio Viegas, said that on Tuesday there had been a meeting with the Minister for Youth and Sports, Ana Paula do Sacramento Neto, at the end of which no guarantees had been given about the total allocation of the amount.

He said that the incumbent minister expressed willingness to help, showing, however, that she was reserved when making a statement about the extent to which the stipulated amount would be met.

The pre-selection includes athletes Dorivaldo, Wilson, Nadi, Estevão, Adilson, Nilson, Fábio, Chiquinho, Chico, Bruno, Jimbinho, Mauro, Tino, Geovetti and Erivaldo.

In the continental competition, the national squad, defending champions, will face Mozambique (winning finalist of the 2019 edition), South Africa, hosts Egypt and debutants DRC and Benin.

Angola won the African title in 2019 after beating Mozambique (5-3) in the final in Luanda.

Source: Angola Press News Agency

Luanda – The first 50 tons of electoral equipment and materials from Spain were delivered to the National Electoral Commission (CNE) on Wednesday.

The non-sensitive materials, which include training kits and banners, were delivered by INDRA’s director general of the Public sector, Pedro Viega, to the president of CNE, Manuel Pereira da Silva.

Source: Angola Press News Agency