Angola Peace Monitor
Published by ACTSA 

Supreme Court overruled on international registration
The Angolan government has reiterated that it does not have the capacity to register Angolans living abroad, despite a recent Supreme Court ruling.
Speaking to Jornal de Angola on 20 March, the head of CIPE, Virgilio de Fontes Pereira, who is also Minister for Territorial Administration, lamented "there are no technical conditions to hold voter registration overseas".
This decision is in line with that of the National Electoral Commission (CNE), which decided that that it would not be possible for the Angolan Diaspora to participate in elections. Speaking at a meeting in London in October 2007 the President of the CNE, Dr Caetano de Sousa, explained that this was because it had been decided that either all Angolans abroad could take part or none. The CNE had decided that because not all embassies had the capacity to take a full part in the electoral process, then it would not be appropriate to choose particular countries where elections could be organised.
However, Virgilio de Fontes Pereira stressed that "‘the government is committed to create necessary conditions and as soon as possible. In other elections, Angolans residing overseas will be able to take part".
The main opposition party, UNITA, which took the issue to the Supreme Court, has expressed concern at the decision. Speaking to Radio Ecclesia Adalberto da Costa complained that "we regret sincerely that Angolans are being deliberately left out of a process they have a right to take part in".

Supreme Court warns parties
The secretary of Angola's Supreme Court, Artur Gunza, has warned political parties that they will have to sort out their internal problems before being allowed to take part in the forthcoming parliamentary elections.
The Supreme Court official warned that the law states that a political party can have only one representative. His comments came after a meeting on 25 March between the Chief Justice, Cristiano Andre, and several of the smaller political parties.
According to Artur Gunza, "to those parties who still have internal conflicts the Supreme Court hopes that they solve these issues as soon as possible, because if they cannot they might be penalised and be unable to compete in the forthcoming general elections".
Several parties suffer from serious internal problems, including the FNLA which was effectively split in two until the death last August of its founder, Holden Roberto
This clear decision is in stark contrast to Zimbabwe, where both the opposition and the ruling ZANU(PF) have been highly fragmented. The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission has allowed different candidates to run in the name of the same political party. Thus in eight constituencies voters had to choose between two ZANU(PF) candidates. In 11 constituencies there were two candidates standing on the MDC-Tsvangirai platform. There were also several cases of two candidates standing under the name MDC.

Political parties receive funding
The Angolan government on 26 March announced that it is to grant each registered political party $75,000 for costs involved in supervising the updating of the electoral register.
To register as a political party it is necessary to collect the signatures of 75,000 citizens over the age of 18. Last year the Supreme Court deregistered 19 political parties after finding that many of the signatures were fraudulent. However, this still leaves 108 registered parties, most of whom are not active and are considered by some commentators to be no more than a fundraising vehicle. This subsidy will cost the state over $7.5 million.
Political parties have already received considerable state funding for the elections. During the main registration period the parties received $200,000, which was augmented by a further $100,000 during the three-month extension period.

Bilateral mechanism considers UNITA radio output
The "Bilateral Mechanism of Consultation and Political Concert" between the Angolan government and UNITA met on 11 March in Luanda, where it discussed the editorial policy of UNITA's radio station "Despertar".
The issue was raised by the Information Secretary of the ruling MPLA, Norberto dos Santos "Kwata Kanawa", who argued that Radio Despertar's editorial policy fails to comply with the stations licence application to the Social Communication Ministry.
The Bilateral Mechanism also looked at the government's disarmament campaign, which both parties have been heavily promoting.
Minister of Public Works Higino Carneiro headed the government delegation, whilst UNITA was led by its secretary general Abilio Camalata Numa.

Prime Minister promises to promote women to decision-making positions
Prime Minister Fernando da Piedade Dias dos Santos on 13 March promised to work towards reaching the Southern Africa Development Community minimum target of 30 per cent of decision making positions being held by women, up from the current 12 per cent.
The pledge came at the end of a trip to Angola by the SADC Women Parliamentarians Group led by its deputy chair, Lilian Patel
During its tour, the Group met with the deputy speaker of the National Assembly Joao Lourenco, the Minister of Family and Women Promotion Candida Celeste, the National Electoral Commission, and political parties including the MPLA and UNITA.
The delegation also attended a two-day conference on "Women and the elections" held in Luanda by the Ministry of Family and Women Promotion.
In 1997 SADC Heads of State signed the "Declaration on Gender and Development" which committed them to ensure "the equal representation of women and men in the decision-making of member states and SADC structures at all levels, and the achievement of at least 30 percent target of women in political and decision making structures by year 2005".
Only Tanzania, Mozambique and South Africa have reached this minimum target.

MPLA to hold national conference
Angola's ruling party, the MPLA, is to hold a national conference to adopt its election manifesto and its proposal for the 2009 to 2012 government programme. This was announced on 22 February during a speech made by President Jose Eduardo dos Santos to the MPLA Central Committee.
According to President dos Santos, the MPLA is also to prepare for the party's 6th Congress. The last Congress was held in September 2003, and it will elect the party's leadership. Observers indicate that this will be the key moment when Jose Eduardo dos Santos will announce whether he is willing to stand in next year's presidential elections.
The national conference will be held in May under the title "MPLA - work to win".

President appoints Civilian Disarmament Commission
On 7 March President Jose Eduardo dos Santos appointed a National Commission for the Disarmament of Civilians to oversee the removal of illegally held weapons.
The Commission is headed by Prime Minister Fernando da Piedade Dias dos Santos, and includes the Ministers of Defence, Foreign Affairs, Territorial Administration, Justice, Social Communication, Education, Social Welfare, Public Works and Finance. The Commission also includes the commander of the police, the head of the Information Services, the head of military intelligence and a representative of civil society.
The police will carry out the disarmament in three phases. An information and education campaign is already underway, supported by the main political parties, youth groups, the churches and civil society. This will be followed by the voluntary handing over of weapons to the police. The last phase will see the police taking action against those possessing illegal weapons.
In 1992 when UNITA rejected the election results and returned to war the government distributed hundreds of thousands of weapons to civilians. Few of these have been collected. Equally, UNITA demobilised over 100,000 soldiers, yet according to the Chief of Staff of the Angolan army, General Francisco Pereira Furtado, since 2002 only 52,000 weapons have been collected.

FLEC fighters express frustration
Former soldiers of the Cabindan separatist movement FLEC have expressed frustration at the poor conditions in the demobilisation areas.
According to a report in the weekly journal Seminario Angolense, their frustration was expressed in a letter dated 29 February to the Governor of Cabinda province, Anibal Rocha. The letter is signed by three dozen former fighters up to and including the rank of general.
The letter denounces a intolerable their living conditions and complains of their betrayal by the Cabinda Forum for Dialogue (FCD) led by Antonio Bento Bembe.
Whilst the former fighters remain in cantonment areas, some small-scale attacks continue to be organised by those that rejected the peace accord signed between the government and FCD in August 2006. According to FLEC FAC, over the weekend of 8-9 March three soldiers were killed and one foreign worker was wounded in an attack.
On the diplomatic front efforts continue to be made to normalise the situation in the province. On 13 March the deputy minister for Territorial Administration, Mota Liz, visited the province to discuss with local leaders the "special status" of Cabinda.

Police force reinforced
More than a thousand former soldiers were incorporated into the national police force on 20 March at a ceremony at the "Kapolo II" National Police School.

Revolution in water supply
The Angolan government has announced that it intends to increase the supply of drinking water to rural areas by 20 per cent each year until 2012, when 80 per cent of the population should have clean drinking water.
Currently the plan is in its developmental stage, focussing on the provinces of Bengo, Benguela, Cabinda, and Uige.
Funds have been flowing into the potable water sector since the end of the war. The European Union between 2002 and 2007 donated €40 million to help restructure the water providers.
Nationwide, $100 million is being invested over the next five years in the water sector with roughly half the funds coming from the World Bank and the other half coming from the Angolan state. It is expected that this investment will result in an extra one and a half million Angolans living in the cities of Lubango, Mbanza Congo, Menongue, Luena, Kuito, Malanje, Ndalatanto, Huambo and Uige receiving potable water.
Meanwhile, people living in and around the capital, Luanda, have just gained an improved supply of water due to the upgrading of facilities at the water treatment centre at Kifangondo. The newly opened treatment facility adds a further 60,000 cubic metres of drinking water a day to Luanda's capacity at a cost of $44 million.
The treatment centre draws its water from the Bengo River and replaces "System I" which was built in 1953. Although "System I" had a nominal capacity of 60,000 cubic metres a day, it ended up producing only 40 per cent of this.
Luanda's also gets water from System II, which is located right next to System I. The main problem with System II is that it was severely damaged in an attack by UNITA in 1993. Three bombs were planted at the site, leaving the building housing the pumps shattered.
Investment will continue to increase water supply to the capital, with System II to double in capacity while System III at Kikuxi is expected to increase output from 130,000 to 216,000 cubic metres per day.

APM: China has become an increasingly important player in Angola's economic development. Could you explain to our readers the context of China's growing engagement with the African continent? Is it mainly to do with the demand for raw materials and the trade surplus? Are there geopolitical and ideological components to the engagement?
 
China has had relatively continuous contact with the African continent since 1956. It is important to recognize that it is not a new partner but now has a new form of engagement that since the mid 1990s has been of a commercial nature focused on resources. However, this needs to be put in the context of the long-standing commitment to form close relations with Africa. What connects the past with the present is China's need for African votes in multilateral settings. Earlier this was to remove Taiwan from its seat at the United Nations, which happened in 1971. Today China still wants to isolate Taiwan, but since China became more actively mutilateralist in the mid 1990s, it need new partners in structures such as the World Trade Organization, the United Nations. In African states China finds partners that share similar outlooks on issues such as sovereignty.
 
APM: What is the magnitude of China's involvement in Angola?
 
China has loaned $7 billion to Angola, and is heavily involved in the oil sector and infrastructure reconstruction as well as increasingly in the retail trade.  It appears to have set its sights on engaging more readily in agriculture and fisheries too.
 
APM: Why did Angola turn to China?
 
The immediate reason was that the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank were blocking aid flows to Angola because they required greater transparency by the Angolan government. The Chinese government had the cash and was willing to loan it without any conditionality. This is a common theme with Chinese assistance, they just write the cheque then and there, and if needed they bring in the workers.
 
This is almost all to the good from the Angolan government perspective. Angola is not turning its back on traditional donors just diversifying. It creates competition between donors that should give them better terms.
 
Much of the criticism of the contracts entered into with the Chinese government should not be directed at China, as they are issues of African governance. There has been criticism by economists and others over the importation of labour from China to execute some of the projects. However, these have not been precondition for loans. In South Africa where the Chinese have funded the development of Richards Bay, the South African government made clear that it wanted the project developed using local labour. Similarly, in Tanzania and Zambia the agreements over Chinese assistance included stipulations that local labour be a major component.
 
APM: Will the Chinese government support the MPLA in forthcoming elections? Does it care who governs Angola?
 
Officially China takes no view over Angolan domestic politics. Unofficially, it increasingly has a vested interest in the government of the day. However, the Chinese government has shown that it can work with opposition figures, even in instances of historical animosity as was case with the SPLA/M in Southern Sudan, which is now looking to China to support its development aims in autonomous South Sudan.
 
APM: President George W Bush during his recent visit to Ghana denied that China was a "fierce competitor" in Africa. Has there been a noticeable change in US policy in Africa due to China's growing influence? How has China affected British policy to Angola?
 
It has only been since 2004 that the United States has become more aware of the growing Chinese presence. The first response was fear and the feeling of being threatened. But subsequently it is now seen in ordinary competitive terms. British policy has been through similar cycles. However, since last year the British government has been actively engaged with China over Africa. For example, the Department for International Development has been in discussions with Chinese over aid to Africa.
 
APM: Are there any other countries that might become big players on the continent?
 
India has always had a presence on the African continent, especially along the east coast, and it is playing a more self-consciously active role. Malaysia is sticking to a low-key role, since the financial crisis in Asia in the 1990s. It also found that the financial sector was not such an open field as it had hoped, for example in Mozambique. Brazil has growing influence in the Lusophone countries, as one can readily see in Angola.
 
APM: Will China's actions in Africa force the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to rethink the conditionality attached to loans? Are the Structural Adjustment Policies demanded by IMF going to be a thing of the past?
 
In fact, the Bretton Woods Institutions had already been rethinking their policies on the efficacy of conditionalities in promoting African development. There have been strong critiques both outside and within the Bretton Woods Institutions arguing that the current policies have failed to deliver goals such as sustainable electoral democracy. Privately there is a softening of their approach, with the recent signature of a Memorandum of Understanding between the World Bank and the China ExIm Bank being one expression of this convergence. It may be that China's influence in Africa will serve as the tipping point.

The Angola Peace Monitor is produced every month by
ACTSA – Action for Southern Africa.