Victor Hugo Teixeira – Jurist
Africa-Press – Angola. On April 26, 2025, the President of the National Assembly of Angola, Dr. Carolina Cerqueira, urged “Deputies to comply with the rules of conduct defined by the Constitution and the Internal Regulations”.
Furthermore, the Secretary of the Board of the National Assembly, Manuel Dembo, reinforced that the “National Assembly condemned the visits of Deputies linked to UNITA to public institutions without prior authorization from the parliamentary leadership or the entities targeted”.
In this sense, the President of the UNITA Party reacted and understands that “the action of the deputies falls within the legitimate exercise of the supervisory function enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic of Angola and in the Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly, citing articles 24 and 309 of the Rules of Procedure”.
Let us see, Article 24 (Rights of the Deputy) of the Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly, at no point establishes that the Deputy of the National Assembly has the Right to monitor and demand information and visit public institutions. In the meantime, paragraph p) of the above article, refers to the Deputy having the right to “inform himself about issues of national interest by means made available to Deputies by the competent bodies of the State, in accordance with the Constitution and the law”, therefore, it is an article that should not be interpreted in isolation, it is necessary to understand the systematization of the rules.
Regarding the Entities subject to parliamentary oversight, Article 300 of the Rules of Procedure establishes that “the oversight of the National Assembly applies to all public entities that perform materially administrative functions with external effectiveness, namely entities of the direct and indirect Administration of the State, the autonomous Administration and the independent Administration”. In this regard, who has the power to authorise acts of parliamentary control and oversight?
It is important to note that Article 308 of the Rules of Procedure is quite clear regarding the competence of this act, therefore, it is the responsibility of the President of the National Assembly:
“a): Authorize missions for control and inspection acts;
b) Approve the duration of control and inspection missions”
Therefore, the acts of control and supervision that the Deputies of the UNITA Party have been carrying out, without the authorization of the President of the National Assembly, have been broadcast online on Facebook, which grossly violates paragraph e) of article 309 of the Rules of Procedure. It is the duty of the Deputy “Not to publish, inform or publicize the acts of supervision to other bodies or services outside the body that authorized the mission”.
Therefore, it is necessary to be truthfully informed, so as not to undermine or trap our young democracy with the power of disinformation.
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