Angola: Campaign for a Democratic Angola launched in Ugie

Campaign for a Democratic Angola
Uíge
June
Public Report nº5

I. Context

In the North of Angola, the Uíge province has the second largest city, with the same name, after Luanda. The province has an estimated population of 1.5 million inhabitants1.

Predominantly inhabited by the Bakongo, this region has been living under the stigma of its ethno-linguistics proximity to the DRC (Democratic Republic of the Congo), with which it shares an immense border and the tragic fact that tens of thousands of locals had to seek refuge in that neighboring country, during the 41 years of combined colonial and civil wars.

Before independence, in 1975, Uíge was the largest producer of coffee, where the coffee crop contributed to raise Angola to the third largest producer in the world ranking. Now reduced to subsistence farming, the local populations have been replacing the remaining coffee plantations by cassava and peanut crops.

Out of 412 industries registered before independence, the province today has just four bakeries as a result of the war, the inefficient economic system and of the deliberately neglectful administration.

Thus informal commerce is the main activity of the local population. Given the lack of basic health services, the province has been hard-hit by sleeping sickness (tsetse fly), eradicated in the colonial times, and by diarrheic diseases, which largely affect children, due to the consumption of water from collection wells, without any treatment.

The extreme poverty, in Uíge, causes women to wander, during the day, through the streets of the city with 40-liter buckets of water, on their head, for sale in commercial establishments, private residences, etc. This suffering is augmented by the National Police agents who pursue them aggressively, with the purpose of preventing them from accomplishing their means of livelihood. It is heartbreaking to see women, with children on their backs, running with 40 kilos on their heads and being forced to pour their water into the ground, after long walks to the river or the collection wells.

Uíge has also been affected by the diamond curse. It is randomly mined there with no benefits to the local population.

II. Activity

On May 12, 2004, the Campaign for a Democratic Angola was launched in Uíge, in the old Moreno Cinema, before an audience of more than 500.

For the first time, after the resumption of the war in 1992, a delegation of the campaign, among them opposition party and civil society leaders, traveled about 400 km, over treacherous roads, for a greater understanding of the reality that exists between the provincial capitals, usually connected by air.

As in the previous launches, the act recorded the reading of the campaign objectives, the Manifesto for Democracy, and the motion in favor of Radio Ecclésia's expansion.

In a motion of solidarity with Uíge’s population, the campaign members declared their repudiation of the acts of local political violence carried out by individuals associated with the Civil Defense Organization (ODC) and additionally demanded its extinction.

The Civil Defense Organization is a paramilitary force created by the Government, with its own provision in the General State Budget (OGE).

For the current year, the provision intended for that force (0.85%) of the 665 billion kwanzas (about eight billion US Dollars) overall is greater than what is allocated to the sectors of agriculture, fishing and the environment (0.76%), combined, which are considered crucial in the Government’s strategy in the fight against poverty.

By way of another comparison, the ODC budget is greater than that dedicated to primary education (0.49%) or to higher education (0.68%). Likewise, the Government, in an effort to combat illiteracy, which afflicts almost 70% of the adult population, dedicates next to nothing (0.00%) of the OGE to this area.

Moreover, the budget for this force exceeds the Government's investment in the public health (0.36%), housing and community development (0.66%). Its budget is, effectively, greater than that allocated to 12 (each) of the country’s 18 provinces.

These paramilitary forces, whose hierarchy is unknown by the public and evades the direct control of the army or the police, have been directing their action, in Uíge, against militants from opposition parties and defenseless citizens, specifically those returned from the DRC.

Bit by bit through the whole country, the civil defense force has reaffirmed itself as the major vehicle of political intolerance against the opposition or dissonant voices of the regime and the greatest danger to holding elections in a climate of security.

The paramilitary force acts exclusively in the service of the MPLA, and it also enlists the civil population the government has armed since 1992. The Government's interest in arming these paramilitary forces is to the detriment of a policy of reconciliation and investment in social sectors. It reveals the Government’s intent to follow a policy of violence.

During the period of debates, the local participants took advantage of the occasion to exercise their right to freedom of expression, reiterating time and again their concern with respect to political intolerance, the lack of freedom, the politically motivated dismissals, from public office, and the reasons behind the discrimination against those returning from DRC.

In regard to the elections, just as in the previous four provinces on the campaign trail, those present were absolutely in favor of 2005. For logistical reasons and lack of knowledge of the local reality, the campaign initially planned for participation of 200 invited guests, and only 200 voting slips were taken. Even so, 187 voted in favor of 2005, one for 2004, three for 2006, one for 2007, and eight null votes.

After holding the Conference of the Challenges to Democracy, on June 8th and 9th, the Campaign will extend to other provinces of the country. It will base the mobilization of society on a more specific agenda for the full realization of their citizenship’s rights and for the establishment of a serious democratic process leading up to elections.

The campaign brings together over 60 civil society organizations and opposition parties, including six represented in the National Assembly.

ENDS

The Campaign for a Democratic Angola

C/O: Largo da Unidade Africana, 41
Bairro do Miramar, Luanda
Angola
Tel: +244 91 331 034
E-mail: [email protected]