Luanda - The decision of the Council of the Republic to support the Executive's initiative to change the administrative division of the country constitutes the main highlight of the national political news of the week that ends today, Saturday.
If the proposal is approved by the National Assembly, Angola will have two new provinces, totaling 20, and 325 municipalities. The country has currently 18 provinces and 164 municipalities.
This increase would result from the division into two of the provinces of Cuando Cubango and Moxico, giving way to the provinces of Cuando, Cubango, Moxico and Cassai-Zambeze.
Last week, Angola's decision to leave the Organization of Petroleum Producing Countries (OPEC), as part of the defense of national interests, also had great political repercussions.
In other developments, the President of the Republic, João Lourenço, expressed dismay at the physical passing of Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah, Emir of Kuwait, and the parliamentary leader, Carolina Cerqueira, lamented the death of the parliamentarian from the Seychelles Islands, Rosie Bisquet.
Another highlight of the week was the announcement of the definitive withdrawal of UNITA from the Commission for Reconciliation in Memory of the Victims of Political Conflicts in Angola (CIVICOP).
To justify the decision, the president of UNITA, Adalberto Costa Júnior, alleged the existence of “deviations” from the objectives, methods and principles that should guide the Commission's work.
Also highlighted was the announcement by the Ombudsman's Office of the reception, in 2023, of around five thousand complaints from citizens, of which two thousand were resolved, most of them related to the procedural slowness of the courts, conflicts over land, pensioners and Power abuse.
The governor of Zaire province, Adriano Mendes de Carvalho, defended the installation of modern technological equipment along the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to discourage cross-border crimes.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Téte António, participated in Oran, Algeria, in the 10th Annual High-Level Seminar on the Promotion of Peace and Security in Africa, where he once again defended reforms in the UN Security Council.
In Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, a ministerial meeting of the African Union (AU) approved Angola's proposal to amend number 4 of Article 22 of the organization's Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption, which aims to reinforce the effectiveness of the Council.
The Supreme Court (TS) sentenced deputy commissioner Paulo Francisco da Silva to two years in prison, with a suspended sentence, for the crime of arms trafficking.
The press also highlighted the election of José Luís Domingos ‘Zé Luís’ as the new president of the Angolan Bar Association (OAA) for the period 2024-2026.
It was also announced that the Supreme Court (TS) judged 448 cases during this year, of which 215 were covered by amnesty, revealed the president of this Supreme Court, Joel Leonardo.
The Angolan Minister of National Defense, Former Combatants and Veterans of the Fatherland, João Ernesto dos Santos “Liberdade”, recognized, on the occasion of the 32nd anniversary of the National Army, the branch's commitment to guaranteeing national unity and reconciliation and the consolidation of Democratic state.
It was also announced that the Lubango Court of Appeal, which is responsible for the provinces of Huíla, Namibe, Cunene and Cuando Cubango, has filled its list of judges, with the entry of four more judges since Tuesday, now making 17.
The MPLA met its Central Committee (CC) for two days, which recommended to the Executive the implementation of strategic actions and the prioritization of projects that directly impact the lives of the population.
The investment in the work of revitalizing basic structures and the holding of review assemblies and renewal of mandates for action committees, to make political-party work more robust and greater social inclusion of activists, are among the MPLA's priorities in the province from Cuando Cubango, in 2024.
The UNITA parliamentary group announced, in Sumbe, Cuanza Sul province, the priorities of the parliamentary agenda for 2024, with initiatives to be submitted to the National Assembly, based on five fundamental axes, which include the creation of local authorities and the fight against corruption. JFS/SC/DOJ
