Cuba to pay tribute to Agostinho Neto

 Luanda - Angola’s first president and the Nation founding Father, António Agostinho Neto, is among the figures that Cuba says will pay tribute this month (September 2022).

This was announced by the deputy president of the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples, (ICAP), Víctor Gaute López.

According to him, the thought, convictions and politic action of Agostinho Neto marked decisively the history of Angola before and after the country’s independence achieved on 11 November, 1975. 

In turn, Tamara Velázquez López, director of ICAP’s Communication and  Historical Documentary Heritage, announced plans for the organisations of solidarity to join the activities in Cuba aimed to honour the first President of Angola.   

The officials at the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples also said that the initiative aims to reiterate the Cuban revolution’s commitment to respect the sovereignty of the countries, as well as promote the solidarity of peoples. 

The honorees include Ho Chi Minh of Vietnam, Salvador Allende (Chile) as well as the young Italian tourist Fabio Di Celmo, victim of a terrorist attack in Havana in September 1997, and the American Rev. Lucius Walker. 

The list covers the martyrs of the Cuban airline plane, crashed in Barbados, as the result of a terrorist attack in 1976, and the 154th anniversary of the Cry of Lares, in support for the decolonisation of Puerto Rico. 

António Agostinho Neto was born on September 17, 1922, in Kaxicane, Icolo and Bengo, and died on September 10, 1979. 

As Angola's first President, he proclaimed the country's independence from the then Portuguese colonial yoke, on November 11, 1975. 

He is a reference of national culture, having written several works translated into various languages, with stress to "Four Poems of Agostinho Neto", in 1957, " Sagrada Esperança" (1974) and "Renuncia impossível" (1982). 

Elections 2022: US senator slams anti-democratic rhetoric

 Washington - The chairperson of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health and Human Rights Karen Bass Friday urged the Angolan political leaders to refrain from anti-democratic rhetoric.

In a statement, the Congressmember advised that all protests should be peaceful, regardless of affiliation with political parties or the outcome of any court decisions related to the general elections.

Karen Bass congratulated the Angolan people on holding the elections on 24 August, in which voters registered their preferences and had the opportunity to be heard.

She stressed the victory of the incumbent President João Lourenço in the presidential race for the country, adding that a second term for President Lourenço is an opportunity to continue to improve relations with the United States, especially with regard to growing US trade and public-private investment in Angola.

With an abstention rate of 55.18 percent, the highest in the country's electoral history, the vote on 24 August stood at 6.4 million (44.82%) of the more than 14 million of registered voters.

Data released by the National Electoral Commission (CNE) put the MPLA at 51.17 percent, accounted for 3. 2 million votes, which allowed it to get 124 parliamentary seats.

The country’s major opposition UNITA garnered 2. 7 million votes and 90 MPs.

Benedito Daniel's Social Renewal Party (PRS) came in third with 71,351 votes (1.14%) and two seats, regaining the place of third political party in the country, it lost in 2012 to CASA-CE.

Also the National Liberation Front of Angola (FNLA) led by Simi a Nimbi, and the Humanist Party of Angola (PHA), by Florbela Catarina Malaquias, both with two MPs.

The National Patriotic Alliance (APN) and the Nationalist Party for Justice in Angola (P-NJANGO) did not win any seats in the National Assembly.

The last two are exposed to extinction by the Constitutional Court, as they were below 0.5 percent as the minimum percentage value imposed by the law to ensure their continuity.

Angola held its first elections in 1992, before returning to the polls successively in 2008, 2012 and 2017.

Elections2022: Constitutional Court checks complaints filed by UNITA, CASA-CE

 Luanda - The Constitutional Court (TC) started Friday checking the complaints filed by UNITA and CASA-CE on the results of the August 24 general elections won by the MPLA.

This was confirmed at a press conference on Friday in Luanda meant to clarify on the steps to be taken by the judicial body after having received the requests from the two political parties which participated in the 24 August elections.

The verification process is underway to confirm the legitimacy of the appellants, the Court’s competence and the observance of the legal deadlines, the director of the Technical Advisory and Jurisprudence Office of TC, Aida Gonçalves, told a press conference.

She also said that, in the formal verification, the requests must contain the reasons of fact and of law, before presenting the conclusions and formulating the request to be considered by the judicial body.

Upon admission, the Court will immediately notify the National Electoral Commission (CNE) to present its counter-allegations, within 72 hours, with the same elements required in the applicants' requests, she added.

In turn, the director of the Office for Political Parties of the TC, Mauro Alexandre, explained that neither of the two processes that were filed refers to the annulment of the elections.

As for the deadline and the counting of votes, Mauro Alexandre stated that this operation is not a "genuine competence" of the Constitutional Court but of the CNE.

He said that the Constitutional Court may, in honour of the principle of electoral truth and in an exceptional situation, carry out an eventual recount based on the summary minutes presented by the competing parties  in the contentious appeal.

He made clear that the deadlines of the electoral process are continuous, without any interruption.

On Thursday, the Constitutional Court received two appeals from the UNITA party and the CASA-CE coalition, competing for the general elections of last August 24, initiating an electoral dispute.

Gabon hosts summit on illegal wildlife trade

 Libreville – Libreville city (Gabon) hosts from 2 to 4 September, the 19th and 15th sessions of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

Experts in biodiversity will analyse  issues such as the illegal exploitation and trade of wild fauna and flora, consequences, strategy to contain such acts and investments.

The African Commissioner, Josefa Sacko, who was speaking at the second meeting of African negotiators, said that Africa is the continent of the future for harboring exceptional biological diversity, although it is the second lung of the planet in terms of carbon absorption.

Josefa Sacko said that, although, with environmental assets, namely the Congo Basin forestry block, and with a younger world population on the planet, Africa has the obligation to better manage natural resources with a view to sustainable development, in order to bequeath to future generations a rich heritage.

She explained that many African countries live on this dividend and that the socio-economic development of communities in rural and urban areas are highly dependent on the use of wild fauna and flora.

According to diplomat, the loss of African fauna and flora directly and indirectly affects people's livelihoods, in addition, the illicit trade in Africa's natural resources deprives its states of revenue, hampering economic growth.

“The African Union remains aware of the unsustainable use of wild fauna and flora and the strong growth of illegal trade in recent years, holding back sustainable development, peace, security, rule of law and good governance,” she stressed.

The Commissioner stressed that in order to contain this evil, the AU adopted, at the twenty-fifth and twenty-seventh ordinary sessions of the Executive Council of the African Union, respectively, the development of an African strategy on the fight against illegal exploitation and illegal trade in wild fauna and flora, as well as endorsing the Brazzaville Declaration of the International Conference on this phenomenon.

“To achieve the essential goals of Agenda 2063 and the sustainability of our continent, we need to be united and speak with one voice to the world. We must, therefore, encourage the spirit of consensus to reach a common position”, defended the head of agriculture, rural development, blue economy and sustainable environment, who is fulfilling her second term in the African organisation.

The diplomat recalled that international agreements are closely intertwined and have an impact on the well-being of indigenous peoples and communities on the continent, because “these peoples are witnesses to the preservation of our environment”.