Africa-Press – Angola. The strengthening of the protection of the rights of Angolan and Zambian citizens was evident yesterday in Luanda, during a meeting that the Ombudsman, Florbela Araújo, had with the Zambian ambassador to Angola, Lawrence Chama Chalungumana.
The protection of the rights of citizens in conflict with the law in both countries was the main point of the working meeting, which took place at the premises of the Zambian diplomatic representation in Angola.
After leaving the meeting, the Ombudsman told the press that the meeting with Ambassador Lawrence Chama Chalungumana took place following the signing of the cooperation agreement on 1 April, in Lusaka, with the Zambian Ombudsman’s Office.
“The implementation of this Memorandum of Understanding was continued. We are here to continue the promises we made to defend the rights, freedoms and guarantees of Zambian citizens residing in Angola and, also, of Angolans in Zambia, in the various domains”, he added.
Florbela Araújo said that issues related to Education were also addressed, since that neighboring country has made progress in the field of Human Rights, especially in matters of conflict mediation. These were also cases of Angolans residing in Zambia who so far do not have documents.
“We also talked about Zambians who are imprisoned here who, based on the extradition agreement, can serve their sentence in Zambia or Angolans serve their sentence in Angola”, he stressed.
The Angolan Ombudsman pointed out that some of these citizens benefit from exemption. Without citing concrete data, she said that there are a large number of Angolans residing in Zambia under these conditions.
“Some have come to Angola, but at the moment we still have more than 1000 Angolans residing in Zambia who prefer to live there. But many of them do not have the documentation. It is a matter that the Angolan authorities have been dealing with for some time now. part”, he stressed.
He informed that, while he was in the city of Lusaka, in April, he spoke with the local Minister of Justice, who is dealing with this, and asked the Zambian Ombudsman to continue the process. “We will refer this matter to the Superior Council of the Judiciary to deal with this matter for citizens who want to serve their sentence in Zambia and who can benefit from it,” he said.
Ambassador Lawrence Chama Chalungumana found the meeting fruitful. He reaffirmed that the issue of Justice is the key for citizens to enjoy their rights, especially in areas where the Government is unable to provide adequate services.
“The central point was precisely the issue of extradition documents between Zambia and Angola, the facilitation that Zambia and Angola can provide in this process. We have already carried out this extradition process with 26 Angolans and one Zambian. a Zambian, who is in Cuando Cubango”, he announced.
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