Huambo - Huambo city is to host Thursday the central act of the celebrations of Angola’s 22nd anniversary of Peace and National Reconciliation to run under the slogan April 4, “together for the inclusive growth of the country".
The event will be presided over by the Minister of State and Head of the Military House of the President of the Republic, Francisco Pereira Furtado, representing the Head of State João Lourenço.
According to a press release that reached ANGOP Tuesday, the Huambo government considers 4 April to be a date that marked the turning of a dark and bitter page in the history of a people whose disagreement with the belligerent forces of yesteryear prevented them from growing into a nation permanently in struggle.
It states that as a result of common sense and the highest patriotic sense, the country achieved peace, whose agreements reached first in Luena city, Moxico province, and then in Namibe, with the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding Complementary to the Luena Accords, and have lasted until the present day, allowing the development and modernization of a prosperous, one and indivisible Angola.
"As we celebrate the 22nd anniversary of Peace and National Reconciliation, the Angolan Executive, led by the President of the Republic, João Lourenço reiterates its firm commitment to continue materializing state policies for the economic and social well-being of the Angolan people and to do everything possible to preserve and maintain this hard-won achievement," the statement said.
It adds that the Angolan government reiterates its appreciation for the brave freedom fighters and veterans of the Homeland who, with their selfless commitment and tenacity, broke through the barriers of incomprehension and ideological distance from the trenches of struggle, putting an end to military hostilities.
The event marks 22 years since on April 4, 2002 the military leadership of the Angolan Armed Forces (FAA) and the former UNITA forces (FALA) signed the Luena memo, complementary to the Lusaka Accords, putting an end to 27 years of armed conflict.
Huambo City
The city of Huambo, inaugurated by the then governor-general of Angola, the Portuguese general José Mendes Ribeiro Norton de Matos, on 21 September 1912,
Named Nova Lisboa in 1928, it regained its previous name after National Independence proclaimed on November 11, 1975.
Huambo was an economic, industrial and agricultural development hub and a centre of excellence in the academic field, particularly in the agricultural and veterinary research.
The municipality of Huambo, one of 11 in the province of the same name, has an estimated population of 934,127 inhabitants, spread over three communes (Calima, Chipipa and Sede, the latter with six sectors, totaling 433 neighborhoods). ALH/TED/AMP
