Africa-Press – Angola. UNITA (opposition) announced today that it will submit a draft resolution to parliament to “demand the immediate and unconditional end to military hostilities” in the Angolan province of Cabinda and “the immediate start of peace negotiations”.
The parliamentary group of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA, the largest opposition party) maintains that civil society in Cabinda, the protest movements and the population want and defend inclusive dialogue to resolve the political-military and historical problem of Cabinda.
In this context, the party, which held its 12th Parliamentary Conference in Cabinda between March 26 and 30, announced, in a statement released today, that it will submit a draft resolution to the National Assembly (parliament) to “demand an immediate end to military hostilities” in Cabinda.
The resolution also demands the “immediate start of peace negotiations between the Government of Angola and the independence movements of Cabinda led by the Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda – Armed Forces of Cabinda (FLEC-FAC) of Emanuel Nzita and Alexandre Tati”.
Taking stock of the activities carried out in that province in the north of Angola, UNITA said it had noted the existence of an “atrocious war” in Cabinda, and considers that it is not possible to speak of effective peace in Angola while that situation continues in one part of the country.
UNITA MPs say that in Cabinda there is a “climate of fear and persecution” towards civic activists and a culture of “hostility towards political opponents” and that “we cannot talk about peace when people are starving and dying of hunger”.
In the opinion of this party, the concentrated and centralized system of governance “is exhausted” and places the people very far from the rulers and the benefits of their abundant local resources.
The Special Statute of Cabinda “is a sham, as the people of Cabinda do not elect local governments nor approve regulations in the interests of local communities”, considers UNITA, which also intends to submit to parliament a bill on the supra-municipal authority of Cabinda.
UNITA MPs also regret that the money and wealth produced in Cabinda “do not benefit the vast majority of the Angolan people, much less the local population” and that Cabinda “is the face of poverty (…) of poor central governance, extreme social inequalities, regional asymmetries (…) of misery, garbage and failed public projects”. UNITA also states in the statement that local citizens in Cabinda “are mistreated by foreigners”, under the “impassionate gaze of the authorities” and that natural resources are not benefiting the people.
“Local chiefs receive poverty benefits of between 12,000 and 25,000 kwanzas. Most young people are unemployed, and public transport is virtually non-existent. The education system offers few opportunities and alternatives. Students and workers have to walk for long distances,” the statement reads. The political group also states that Cabinda lives and survives on imports and cross-border trade, “almost everything consumed is imported, but the local business class is incipient, partisan and conditioned by the regime’s interests.”
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