Menongue – The minister of State and head of the Civil Affairs Office of the President of the Republic, Adão de Almeida, said Tuesday that the alteration of the Politico-Administrative Division of Angola aims to ensure greater inclusion of citizens in the exercise of governance.
The minister was speaking at the opening ceremony of the public consultation on the alteration of the country’s Politico-Administrative Division, held in the south-eastern Cuando Cubango Province, one of the five provinces covered by the alteration.
According to Adão de Almeida, a new politico-administrative division in various parts of the national territory should have been carried out a long time ago, in order to create better living conditions for the population.
“Definitely, we have to manage our territory, to be able to correct regional asymmetries, and in this case, the eastern provinces and the largest ones in the country are privileged with this alteration”, he said.
He said that the first mandate given to the commission is to dialogue, since Angola belongs to all Angolans, who must participate in matters of great national interest and involve all interested parties and recipients of the reform measures.
The minister of State reiterated that greater inclusion of citizens in government action is expected, a reality that is currently difficult to happen, due to the territorial dimension of Cuando Cubango and other provinces, namely Moxico, Lunda Norte, Malanje and Uíge.
Cuando Cubango is the second largest province in the country in terms of territory, after Moxico, with an extension of 199.049 square kilometres.
It has more than 600.000 inhabitants spread over nine municipalities, namely Menongue, Mavinga, Cuchi, Calai, Cuangar, Cuito Cuanavale, Dirico, Nankova and Rivungo.
The event was attended by the minister of Territory Administration, Marcy Lopes, the governor of Cuando Cubango, Julio Bessa, deputy governors, secretaries of state, religious entities, traditional authorities, businesspeople, among other guests.