Africa-Press – Angola. “The [Government’s] first target was taxi drivers, the second was civil society and then they will make connections with political parties,” predicted Filomeno Vieira Lopes.
On Thursday night, news arrived of the arrest of a leader of JURA, the youth wing of UNITA. After his house door was broken down, the young man was taken away by the SIC, according to the party, without an arrest warrant. When the authorities later confirmed the arrest of Oliveira Francisco, known as Buka Tanda, they claimed to have the corresponding warrant. Furthermore, they reported that JURA’s National Secretary for Mobilization was suspected of terrorism and criminal association, as was his cousin, a TPA journalist, who was also arrested, and a third 58-year-old man.
The following day, Buka Tanda (and the other two detainees) were linked to Russia. Early Friday evening, the SIC reported that, “following the investigation into the arrest of three Russian citizens,” it had also arrested in Luanda “two foreign citizens of alleged Russian nationality, identified as Ígor Racthin, 38, and Lev Lakshtanov, 64, based on strong evidence of criminal association, document forgery, terrorism, and terrorist financing.” The statement published on the agency’s official website states that they were “recruiting and financing Russian citizens to produce propaganda materials and disseminate false information on social media, promote demonstrations, and commit looting.”
The SIC “detected that these individuals are linked to international criminal organizations operating in Africa,” the press release states. “They are dedicated to developing disinformation and propaganda campaigns on social media in countries during pre-election campaigns or even during electoral, legislative, or presidential campaigns, to change legally established regimes by altering the order,” the statement explains.
The authority says that “it is on the trail of other suspects already identified, who received the amounts in US dollars and kwanzas that would be used to finance demonstrations in the provinces of Luanda and Benguela.”
Luzia Moniz immediately remembered João Lourenço’s words, which were heavily criticized for being belated and placing responsibility for the riots on unpatriotic national or foreign organizations. “As soon as I heard the message after the massacre, I said it was a declaration of war. The arrests/imprisonments of journalists, politicians, activists, etc. demonstrate a country at war ,” the Angolan sociologist stated.
“If the MPLA continues to self-destruct, instead of updating and modernizing itself (as its true militants want), the result will only be its removal from power – either by the ballot box or by force” Paulo de Carvalho, MPLA deputy
“Whoever orchestrated and led this criminal action was defeated and helped us all, the Executive and society, to take preventive measures and better ways to react in case of recurrence , with a view to minimizing damage to people and property,” said the President in a message to the Nation, broadcast by Angolan Public Television on August 1.
But if there’s one thing that the various interlocutors interviewed by Observador for this article agree on, with the exception of those from the government and the MPLA, it’s that the protest wasn’t organized but rather spontaneous. And for that reason, it also carries a different meaning.
These weren’t just any riots; “they have a different meaning,” considers Sedrick de Carvalho. “People are fed up, they’re starting to rob and loot. Those days coincided with the taxi drivers’ strike, and it could happen again. Last year [in 2022], the MPLA headquarters was also vandalized and a bus was set on fire during a taxi drivers’ strike. This time, the impact has been even greater,” emphasizes the writer.
“The severity of the incident is also significant. The police fired at close range, private property was looted and vandalized, and there were countless people looting. People dressed for work, with normal jobs, were stealing. And most of them weren’t taking luxury goods, cell phones, or televisions—that number is very small—but rather food to eat. They weren’t vandals, they were hungry people. They were walking by, saw the looting, and went and stole too. This shows that there is hunger in Luanda ,” the activist emphasizes.
After all, how did a strike with the slogan “Stay at home” slide into violent and deadly chaos?
Misinformation at its source and picket-strike workers
The taxi drivers never planned a protest, emphasizes Sedrick de Carvalho, but rather a strike. The problem was that “the state media spread misinformation; the day before, they started saying there wouldn’t be a strike, and people trusted them and took to the streets to go to work” to catch their rides,” the activist emphasizes. They stood in line for hours, waiting for the taxi drivers who never arrived.
The day before, it was difficult to understand what was going to happen. Francisco Paciente, the president of the National Taxi Drivers Association of Angola, said there would be no strike, but in a “fantastic story ,” as Filomeno Vieira Lopes calls it, the vice-president confirmed that there would be, as did other organizations, such as the National Taxi Drivers Association of Luanda. “Faced with various reports denying the call, they held a meeting, and in the end, Rodrigo Catimba was kidnapped and appeared in a video with a very frightened look, saying that the strike had been called off. When he felt free, he reiterated that it had been called,” recalls the BD coordinator.
Sedrick de Carvalho actually believes the problem lay in what was broadcast by TPA and Rádio Nacional de Angola. “It was the government that provoked this, with lies and misinformation that it wouldn’t happen. They grossly manipulated the information with the help of the state press and believed the message would reach taxi drivers.” It did reach some, but not others. At 4:00, 5:00, and 6:00, people left, as usual, to go to work. But there were no taxis. There were, in fact, “strike pickets,” says Carlos Rosado de Carvalho. Not by taxi drivers, but by the so-called “lotadores,” the people who call customers into taxis (there are several stakeholders in this business: the van owners, the drivers, the ticket collectors, and the passenger touts).
The taxi drivers didn’t take to the streets, but the taxi drivers did, or rather, they didn’t leave the streets. “Many are criminals, living on the streets, and when public transportation starts running, they throw rocks and break windows,” describes Sedrick. “They formed a picket line, preventing others from working, including the gira-bairros (private cars, including those of representatives, in which the driver, when the car owner doesn’t need it, acts as a taxi for short trips),” summarizes Carlos Rosado de Carvalho. The economist lives near one of the locations where a widely shared video was filmed: a small crowd backs up a yellow car that tries in vain to pass, reverses, and then accelerates toward the group, running over several people.
Naturally, responds the MI spokesperson, “it is not possible for the police to be caught by surprise.”
“It’s a well-thought-out plan from a political point of view” and a “very dangerous scheme” Filomeno Vieira Lopes, coordinator of the Democratic Bloc
Filomeno Vieira Lopes finds the chaos so perplexing. “It was elements outside the strike who set burning tires and tree trunks in the middle of the roads. But at 6 a.m., the police were already at the road signs (the main bus stops), and those locations have cameras, so they were already aware of everything that was happening.” Therefore, the Bloco leader demands a thorough investigation that analyzes the video surveillance footage.
It was precisely the images from these cameras that provided elements for the arrests that followed, explains Mateus Rodrigues.
Adalberto Costa Júnior wasn’t expecting what he saw in the videos and heard from the reports: “The scale of what happened surprised us. The robberies of cars used for work, cars crashing into people, the excessive violence—this isn’t normal in Angola.” This is one of the reasons the UNITA leader, like BD, advocates that “the authorities deepen the investigation to determine whether the people weren’t just chasing those who actually started the looting and pillaging, to determine who initiated the acts of vandalism.”
Emerson Paim, a businessman directly affected by the fuel price hike who doesn’t dispute it, also demands answers. “What happened? Was there a lack of police attention? Why are demonstrations in support of the government, the President’s departures from the Palace, or events like the USA Africa Summit, all attended by a police and even military presence that wasn’t seen on a day when problems were predictable?” asks the owner of the Kubinga platform (a sort of Angolan Uber). “We need explanations, we need to understand,” he demands.
“Let’s put an end to birthday parties, full of exaggerated joy and spread to the point of ridicule on social media, when 200 meters from our homes there are people living in poverty, yet watching this absolutely indigestible theater.”
Paulo de Carvalho, MPLA MP and Central Committee member.
“First, the police were passive, letting things happen, and then they acted with maximum aggression and live ammunition. The deaths were outside the context of the looting,” emphasizes Filomeno Vieira Lopes. The BD leader sees “an intention to create chaos to suspend democratic order, repress and intimidate, preventing demonstrations against rising fuel prices, the cost of living, and tuition fees.”
The Bloco leader reveals even more political implications: “With all this disruption, attention is diverted from the discussion of electoral law, laws are passed, the uneven composition of the National Electoral Commission is closed, and thus electoral fraud is already in place, without creating a public opinion movement that would allow the law to be changed.” It’s “a well-conceived plan from a political standpoint” and a “very dangerous scheme.”
The truck drivers’ actions had a contagious effect, explains Sedrick de Carvalho. “People, tired of waiting, fed up with the rising cost of living, end up engaging in spontaneous, unorganized protests.” And when looting and looting occur, “they end up stealing too.” This is why “the police are caught off guard. There was no demonstration called for that day.”
In any case, and because the country’s agenda isn’t limited to the Palácio da Cidade Alta, UNITA and the BD want to take the matter to the National Assembly. Filomeno Vieira Lopes intends to push through a resolution condemning police violence at an earlier point on the agenda. And Adalberto da Costa Júnior called for an urgent debate on the causes of the riots at the end of July. The MPLA, contacted by Observador, says it hasn’t yet received a request. “We’re not aware of any such request, so it would be premature to say whether we will accept it or not,” responded party spokesperson Hilário Esteves.
The truck that goes to Huambo to get food is not the same as the Ferrari that drives around Luanda
The widespread apprehension in Luanda, with the fear of a repeat of the violence of late July, has a reason to be repeated ad nauseam in the public sphere, including by MPLA voices: the reasons have not changed. The taxi drivers’ strike was a way to protest the rise in diesel prices, which leads to a doubling of the fare, often forcing workers to spend their entire monthly salary on transportation, as journalist Rafael Marques explained to Observador.
No one “even minimally informed in Angola is against the increase in diesel prices due to the removal of state fuel subsidies, which has been happening since 2023,” admits Emerson Paim. The problem “is the way it’s done,” adds the businessman, an opinion shared by Carlos Rosado de Carvalho and Adalberto Costa Júnior.
João Lourenço’s message doesn’t make sense with the conspiracy theory about the protests; what happened was spontaneous. The opportunity created the thief, and the thief appeared in a population that survives on the edge of social desperation.” Reginaldo Silva, journalist and member of ERCA
“When a country spends more on subsidizing fuel than on health and education combined, something is wrong,” the economist notes, arguing for the inevitability and necessity of ending this measure. But “this increase, which isn’t unique—water and electricity prices have gone up 30% and 40%, taxi fares have gone up 50%, and tuition fees have also become more expensive in a country where five million children, even the poorest, attend private schools—and which affects other essential goods such as food, must be used to improve the public transportation system, passenger conditions, education, health, etc.,” insists Carlos Rosado de Carvalho.
“The government communicates poorly,” says the UNITA leader. “It doesn’t like to listen, it doesn’t share issues, and it doesn’t discuss them with others, which prevents it from gathering input to solve problems. If it did, perhaps it wouldn’t be handling this fuel process in such a disastrous way.”
“We discovered that very day that diesel prices had risen 33%, which incurs many unnecessary costs. Imagine a truck outside Luanda, or crossing the border, where drivers go to areas where fuel is scarce and carry limited cash,” complains Emerson Paíim. “It’s impossible to make good business plans like this, compounded by the difficulty of managing exchange rate fluctuations for goods purchased in foreign currency, for example.”
“There is a complete degradation of the population’s standard of living” Adalberto Costa Júnior, leader of UNITA
If “the government doesn’t know how to do it, call in academia, transportation organizations, and experts,” Emerson urges. “It makes no sense to tax the truck that fetches food from Huambo and the Ferrari that drives around Luanda equally. In the first case, it affects the price of the basic food basket, which the government claims to want to protect: how can the distributor sell what the retailer already brings at a higher price?”
This situation “is unsustainable,” emphasizes the businessman, a phrase that Adalberto Costa Júnior uses frequently: “There is a complete degradation of the population’s standard of living,” says the UNITA leader who recently presented some proposals at a conference, such as the need to break the monopoly on fuel decisions in Angola.”
The corn that falls from trucks, eating from garbage cans and the 19 thousand classroom trees
The price of diesel, however, is just one aspect of the general discontent, a pretext. Carlos Rosado de Carvalho did the math and concluded that between 2017 and 2025, people living on the minimum wage lost a third of their purchasing power, “only able to buy 66% of what they could in 2017, when João Lourenço took office.” “There is data showing that Angolan families are substantially poorer today than they were a decade ago,” emphasized Father Celestino Epalanga, of the Justice and Peace Commission of the Episcopal Confederation of Angola and São Tomé, at the press conference where he condemned the “summary executions.”
“The protest is broader; there had been demonstrations before over bribes, and you can’t arrest everyone and everything for vandalism. If there’s one thing that’s clear, it’s that, contrary to what the President said, this wasn’t organized by anyone; it was spontaneous and courageous. They confronted the police without weapons, just with rocks and sticks,” emphasizes Carlos Rosado de Carvalho.
However, the most cutting reading comes again from the MPLA deputy: “If the current situation of poverty is already comparable to what happened in the colonial period, the more deaths there are, the closer we will be to comparing it to the atrocities committed by the colonial regime in Angola,” wrote Paulo de Carvalho.
Nelson Cultura, from the Mubiala neighborhood, is more straightforward when stating the reasons: “Hunger, there is hunger.” The government “says it has no money and buys luxury cars, spends its life traveling abroad, and meanwhile the people are dying of hunger, eating from the trash, collecting corn kernels on the Expresso highway, which connects Benfica to Cacuaco, the corn that the trucks drop at dawn.”
In the year marking the half-century of Angola’s independence, Francisco Teixeira says that “peace is creating living conditions for everyone, but that’s not what happens. 50 years and a minority has everything, while the majority lives in extreme poverty. 50 years and more than 9 million children without school, 19,000 classroom trees [children learn under a tree], and many others where there are no desks, sitting on the floor.” This “not to mention higher education, where only 20% is public, and Agostinho Neto University, for example, doesn’t accept more students because the government doesn’t have the money to hire teachers but spends $6 million to bring Messi here. There are no chairs, no blackboards, no chalk in the schools, but there are millions for a friendly match between the Argentine and Angolan national teams,” he reproaches.
The salary of the President’s daughter that increased the revolt
What happened at the end of July “reflects the anger of Angolans who have nothing to eat and who see the children of an elite squandering money on trivialities every day. Those three days demonstrated the accumulation of anger, suffering, and lack of opportunities; it was a reaction to years of poor governance. Unfortunately, the Palace is concerned with the consequences, not the causes,” says Francisco Teixeira.
This “revolt cannot be killed, arrested, or silenced,” warns the MEA leader. “We listen, we understand, we try to resolve it. But with so many protests by students, the government has never wanted to talk to us.”
A piece of information that emerged this week further fueled this sense of injustice: the salary of the daughter of João Lourenço, president of Bodiva, the Angolan stock exchange. The newspaper Valor Económico analyzed the institution’s data for the second quarter of this year and concluded that Cristina Lourenço receives 181.7 million kwanzas per month (over 170 thousand euros).
The tenant of the Palácio da Cidade Alta increased the salary of the entire board of directors by 121%, says the newspaper, also revealing that personnel costs reach 1.464 billion kwanzas, more than the revenue of 965.286 million in three months.
Luzia Moniz did the math: Cristina Lourenço’s monthly salary (not counting all the perks) is now almost equal to the annual salary of UN Secretary-General António Guterres. “This has further fueled outrage; things could indeed go off the rails,” says the sociologist.
Bovida responded, presenting different figures, and explaining that the 17.1% increase in personnel costs was due to a shareholder-approved adjustment in corporate compensation and performance bonuses.
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