Fight against corruption records good results

 Luanda - The fight against corruption, boosting employment and increasing the capacity of energy and water supply were given special emphasis in the Message on the State of the Nation, delivered Saturday (15) in Luanda, in the National Assembly (Parliament), by the President of the Republic, João Lourenço.

In his speech in the Angolan Parliament, the Head of State declared that the fight against corruption and impunity continues to be carried out by the concerned organs of the State.

 

According to João Lourenço, the main results of this fight, as regard the recovery of amounts embezzled from the State’s coffers, the government has recovered money and assets corresponding to about USD 5.6 billion.

 

The Head of State added that from 2019 to September 2022, goods and values totalling about USD 15 billion were seized. Of the total, USD 6.8 billion were seized in the country and the rest abroad and between 17 September 2017 and September 2022, 527 investigation proceedings were opened for corruption, money laundering and related crimes, of which 247 were concluded, resulting in the opening of 106 criminal lawsuits.

 

He revealed that these figures contrast with the 18 investigation proceedings for corruption and money laundering and related crimes opened in the period 2012 to 2017.

 

He wentr on to inform that from 2017 to September 2022, roughly 2,511 proceedings were set into motion for crimes of embezzlement, money laundering, corruption, economic participation in business and other economic and financial crimes involving holders of public office. Of these, 2,037 are in preparatory investigation and 474 have already been sent to the courts for trial, of which 40 convictions have been recorded.

 

Regarding assets declarations of the holders of public offices and other persons required by law, João Lourenço informed that 188 declarations of assets were registered from 2012 to 2017, compared to the 3,635 deposited in the Office of the Attorney General from 2017 to September 2022.

US praises Angola´s commitment to peacekeeping in Great Lakes Region

 Luanda – The Government of the United States of America praised this Tuesday the commitment of the Angolan Head of State, João Lourenço, to peacekeeping and stability in the African continent, especially in the Central Region as well as in the Great Lakes.

The acknowledgement was made by the United States (US) Assistant Secretary of State, Ms Wendy Ruth Sherman during a telephone conversation  with the minister of Foreign Affairs, Téte António. 

 

The conversation served to address issues related to bilateral relations between the two countries, as well as review multilateral issues.

 

Wendy Ruth Sherman congratulated the recent visit of minister Téte António to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda in the scope of the Roadmap for the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) for peace in the east of the DRC, adopted at the Luanda Tripartite Summit.

 

The Great Lakes Region tension rose at the beginning of this year between the neighbouring countries of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

 

In March this year, fighting began between the DRC and the 23 March Movement (M23), which according to Kinshasa is supported by the neighbouring country.

 

The fighting between DRC and the neighbouring countries of Rwanda and Uganda is old.

 

Angola is the Chairman of the International Conference on Great Lakes Region (ICGLR), so it has multiplied initiatives to pacify the region. 

 

The Head of State, João Lourenço, as the ICGLR Chairman, was appointed by the African Union to mediate the conflict.

 

ICGLR was created with the objective to resolve peace and security issues after political turnmoils that marked the region in 1994.

 

The ICGLR member countries are Angola, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, Rwanda, Sudan, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and the Republic of Congo (Brazzaville).

President highlights non-oil sector role

 Luanda – Angolan president João Lourenço said this Saturday that Angola recorded in 2021 a growth of 0.7 percent in its Gross Domestic Product (GDP), as a result of an increase in the non-oil sector, of 6.4 percent.

In his State of the National Speech, the Head of State highlighted, among the non-oil sectors that contributed to global GDP growth, agriculture and livestock, fisheries, manufacturing and extractive industries, especially diamonds, trade, construction, transport and other services.

He explained that the oil sector suffered a contraction of 11.6 percent.

João Lourenço noted that the data for the first half of this year point to a GDP growth of 3.2 percent, which shows that the focus on national production is beginning to bear fruit.

"We will continue to intensify efforts  because we are on the right track. It is estimated that, in 2022, the economy will grow by 2.7 percent, once again with a performance led by the non-oil sector ", he stressed.

This economic growth, he explained, will continue to rely on the contribution of the Production Support, Export Diversification and Import Substitution Programme (PRODESI) and other sector-related programmes, as well as the Privatisation Programme (PROPRIV), started in mid-2019.

As for PROPRIV, he said that 94 privatisation processes were concluded, including 71 assets and 23 shareholdings in companies, whose signed contracts correspond to an aggregate value of 961. 014 billion kwanzas.

Of this amount, he added, the National Treasury has already allocated 565.6 billion kwanzas, which corresponds to almost 59 percent of the total value of the contracts.

"Many of these assets were abandoned or paralyzed, until the date they were privatised, and today, 47.1 percent of them are in full operation. The others (...), in the start-up phase, paying tax, contributing to the increase in jobs in the country", he concluded.

As for the general level of prices in the economy, the Head of State recalled that, after changing the growth trajectory of the inflation rate, which had dropped from 42 percent in 2016 to 17.1 percent in 2019, in 2021, due to Covid-19, this indicator increased to 30.4 percent.

However, the Holder of the Executive Power said that in 2022 there is "a clearly decreasing trajectory in inflation rates, with the year-on-year inflation rate standing at 18.16 percent, in August.

"The forecast is that the cumulative inflation rate will be below 18 percent by the end of this year," he said.

This evolution, he pointed out, is the result of the measures taken by the Executive to limit the effects of the increase in the prices of products of wide consumption on the lives of the populations.

Among the measures adopted, he highlighted exemption in the payment of customs duties and the reduction of Value Added Tax (VAT), in 50 percent (out of 14 percent) of some of these products and the start-up of the Strategic Food Reserve (REA) ).

The President of the Republic clarified that the combination of these measures and the increase that is taking place in the supply of some national production has had a positive effect, under the trajectory of inflation.

Angola pledges to permanent fighting against crime

 Luanda – The President of the Republic João Lourenço reaffirmed Saturday the Executive commitment to fight against crime and delinquency, with a view to ensuring tranquility of the communities.

Delivering the State of the Nation Speech in Parliament, the statesman said that the country is also committed to actions to prevent and combat the occurrence of international threats, such as piracy.

The Holder of the Executive Power defended greater investment in means and in people, to increase the population's feeling of security.

The President of the Republic said that Angola will maintain the presence of police forces at land and sea borders.

In his message, João Lourenço said that the country will intensify migratory measures aimed at preventing, repressing and punishing illegal immigration, as well as curbing human trafficking.

He highlighted the need to continue actions to improve migratory control and prevent road accidents.

The speech by the Head of State marked the beginning of the V Legislature of the National Assembly, Angolan Parliament.

Angola graduates over 900 masters in five years

 Luanda - In the last five years Angola trained 931 masters and 183 doctors as a result of the implementation of the government's staff training strategy of 2017/2022, said Saturday the President of the Republic.

According to the Head of State, João Lourenço who was addressing in the Parliament a Message on the State of the Nation, in the same period Angola awarded 1,484 internal postgraduate scholarships.

 

He said that in less than five years, the education sector gained 9,430 new classrooms.

 

The mentioned number of classrooms is due to the construction of 772 new schools and the rehabilitation of another 313, as part of the Integrated Programme for Intervention in Municipalities (PIIM).

 

The Head o f the State pointed out as upcoming goals to achive the continuos commitment to teachers training.

 

Other plans presented by the Head of State include the continuing commitment to teacher training, building of reference schools, salary adjustment for teachers working in remote areas and the availability of resources for the efficient functioning of educational infrastructures.

 

João Lourenço added that in the same period (2017/2022), at least 20,109 new teachers were recruited, thus having increased the National Education System contingent to more than 200,000.

 

Professional Training

 

The President of the Republic highlighted the training of 230,000 citizens, 12,000 of whom received professional kits.

 

According to João Lourenço from 2017 to 2022, about 491,000 job posts were created, however, due to the constraints of the covid-19 pandemic in the life of companies, the country registered 272,000 job losses, nevertheless the balance is positive in the order of 219,000 formal jobs.

 

The State of the Nation Message of the Head of State marked the Fifth Legislature of the National Assembly.

 

In accordance with the Constitution of the Republic, the Head of State addresses to the country a message on the State of the Nation in the opening ceremony of the Parliamentary Year in the National Assembly on 15 October.

Angola gains more than 9,000 new classrooms

 Luanda – The President of the Republic João Lourenço said Saturday that the education sector gained, in just less five years, 9,430 new classrooms.

According to the Head of State, there are 772 new schools and 313 schools rehabilitated as part of the implementation of the Integrated Programme for Intervention in Municipalities (PIIM) underway since 2018.

In his State of the Nation Address, João Lourenço pointed out, as goals for the coming years, the continuous commitment to the training of teachers, reference schools.

He also spoke of the implementation of a different remuneration for teachers who teach in remote areas of the country, construction of new schools and making resources available for the efficient functioning of educational infrastructures.

In the same period, 20,109 new teachers entered the education system to boost the contingent of the National Education System, which currently has more than 200,000 permanent staff.

Data from the Ministry of Education (MED) show that in the previous academic year (2021-2022) over 10 million students were enrolled in the general education system, which includes pre-school, primary and secondary education, of whom three million are new students.

The three levels of education have currently 167,032 classrooms, with an increase of more than 69,348 new classrooms compared to 2017.

The number of teachers, which in 2017 was 181,624, increased to 206,624 teachers.

US President Joe Biden throws UK PM Liz Truss under the bus

 Washington DC – In a rare public criticism of a sitting UK Prime Minister by a sitting United States president, Joe Biden last week weighed in on the aborted $50 billion tax cuts that cost the short-lived Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng his job.

Responding to a reporter’s question on the withdrawn mini-budget, President Joe Biden observed that he is “not the only one who thought it was a mistake.”

Joe Biden had visited an ice cream parlor with First Lady Dr. Jill Biden during a casual DC stroll. Although Biden had every right to avoid answering questions in that setting, he unusually weighed in on an internal UK political issue that landed the new Prime Minister on the ropes.

Liz Truss is facing unprecedented backlash for a new prime minister with one fellow Tory MP publicly calling for her resignation barely two months into her administration.

Truss appointed a Ghanaian Kwasi Kwarteng as the first black to occupy the coveted Chancellor of the Exchequer position only to be fired after her administration’s mini-budget sent the markets reeling and unleashed a barrage of public backlash.

Kwarteng’s replacement, Jeremy Hunt, after a meeting last Saturday with Truss at her retreat, which some are calling a ‘hideaway’, announced that taxes would go up rather than down as the aborted mini-budget prescribed.

Truss is rumored to have changed her phone number multiple times to the extent that members of her own cabinet have difficulty reaching her.

It is noteworthy that Biden and Truss subscribe to opposing sides of the ideological spectrum. But the political alignment between the two countries has historically masked that divide – until the Biden comment.

The British Prime Minister is not expected to publicly respond to the unusual public jab.

DNT News.

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