Pretoria – Angola's ambassador to South Africa, Rui Orlando Xavier, said this Thursday that Peace should be the key word in the lives of Angolans, considering the benefits achieved over the last 22 years.
Speaking exclusively to ANGOP, on the occasion of the April 4th holiday, Day of Peace and National Reconciliation, the diplomat made a point of highlighting that “there is nothing better than peace”, stressing that the word sounds “simple” but has “enormous meaning for us”.
With peace, he continued, people move throughout the national territory more frequently by land, a fact that was impossible during the years of national conflict, when air transports were the only option and clearly did not reach the majority of citizens.
After long years of war, it is a common voice among Angolans to say “no more armed conflict, because it caused thousands of human losses, destroyed our country, slowed down development and worse than that, it deeply affected all of us”.
The head of the Angolan Diplomatic Mission in South Africa also said that one can see the economy growing, although yje country faces many challenges, but still, “we can say that we are on the right path”.
“Therefore, we have to show some patience, while we all work on rebuilding the country”, he concluded.
April 4th has been celebrated since 2002, after the signing of the Luena (Moxico Province)) Memorandum of Understanding, between the highest levels of the Angolan Armed Forces (FAA) and the Former Military Forces of UNITA (FALA).
This act would put an end to the 27 years of internal conflict, following the signing of the Lusaka Peace agreement (Zambia) of November 20, 1994.
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