All the President’s Children
Are you suffering from corruption fatigue? Yes, it gets to us all. There is just so much of it. Everywhere. Shameless, unethical, immoral, illegal, self-serving behavior is rampant. From the USA to...
View ArticleSonangol on the Brink
Putting the President’s daughter in charge of Angola’s national oil company has been such a ‘good move’ that the company is now reported to be on the brink of bankruptcy. The ‘genius’ businesswoman and...
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All Aboard the Gravy Train
Angola’s gravy train has been rumbling along one set of tracks for the past 37 years, with all-encompassing corruption tainting the ruling MPLA party under President José Eduardo dos Santos. Those at...
View ArticleNobody Wants to Kiss the General
Reports of bizarre behavior by the Angolan President’s loyal henchman, General José António Maria, aged 74, have become so frequent that people are openly questioning whether the elderly security head...
View ArticleWhen You Can’t Shoot, Sue!
Recently, the Angolan ruling party MPLA proposed, in Parliament, that the outgoing President and Vice-President be given absolute immunity from prosecution for any crimes they committed while in...
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Lifelong Immunity from Prosecution for the President
It is right and proper that anyone who has served as head of state or government should be accorded due honors upon exiting the job. The peaceful transition of power is a cornerstone of democracy and...
View ArticlePolice Use Lethal Force to Repress Diamond-Area Protest
Reports from the diamond-rich province of Lunda Norte in north-eastern Angola say police opened fire without warning on peaceful demonstrations by separatists on Sunday, killing one bystander and...
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Refugees: A Sore Point for Dos Santos and Kabila
More than 30,000 refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are housed in two temporary reception camps, Kakanda and Mussunga, in Lunda-Norte province. The United Nations High Commissioner...
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Angolan Muslims Denounce Human Rights Violations
Aisha Lopes, the fashion designer, and her husband Angelica Bernardo da Costa (also known as Mujahid Kenyata) are Angolan nationals who converted to Islam in 1996. Aisha, a diabetic, was nursing her...
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Angolan Vote Count Flouted The Rules
Members of Angola’s National Electoral Commission (CNE) have described how the legal procedures for collecting and tabulating the results of Wednesday’s election were flouted by officials who reported...
View ArticleA New Angolan President
On September 21 we will have a new president, after 38 years with José Eduardo dos Santos. The National Electoral Commission has named João Lourenço president-elect, without legally validating the...
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A Journey for Rights and Dignity: A Participant’s Observation
Note: This text was initially delivered as the Hormuud Lecture of the African Studies Association, at its annual meeting in Chicago, on November 18, 2017. Within days after delivering this lecture, I...
View ArticleWHO Alarm: Zika Virus on the Rise in Angola
The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued a health emergency alert about a possible Zika outbreak in Angola, urging the Angola Ministry of Health to immediately begin implementing its planned...
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Angolan Central Bank US $500 Million Swindle Foiled
The latest episode in the long-running saga of the alleged plunder of Angola’s public coffers has just come to light. Thanks to the diligence of British financial watchdogs and a change of regime in...
View ArticleAngola’s Death Squads
Nearly two years ago, rumors began circulating in the Angolan capital, Luanda, that police officers working for the Criminal Investigation Service (SIC) were routinely rounding up suspected petty...
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The Half-a-Billion-Dollar Scam of Espírito Santo Bank in Angola
In the plunder that has been carried out in Angola, little has been said about the extraordinary role of Portuguese facilitators – especially bank executives, lawyers and intermediaries – in setting up...
View ArticleMy Trial
My trial has begun. I am standing on the dock accused of two crimes for nearly four hours straight. It is my punishment for not exercising. Now I feel the pain in my back. Under the Law on Crimes...
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The Fake Assassination Attempt against Angola’s Vice-President
Why does the president of the Republic, João Lourenço, allow his government to be tarnished with fabricated accusations regarding the supposed attempted murder of his vice-president in the first months...
View ArticleValter Filipe and José Filomeno dos Santos indicted
José Filomeno dos Santos (son of former presidente José Eduardo dos Santos, known as Zenú), and the former governor of the National Bank of Angola, Valter Filipe, were indicted two weeks ago by the...
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Ex-President dos Santos and His Son’s Billion-Dollar Scam
Before agreeing to step aside after 38 years in power, Angola’s former President, José Eduardo dos Santos, made sure he obtained guarantees of permanent immunity from prosecution for any crimes...
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