Attorney General’s Office complains of lack of funds

 Luanda - Attorney General's Office (PGR) is struggling with scarce funds to properly carry out its work, the institution’s boss Hélder Pitta Groz said on Wednesday

Answering the concerns raised by MPs in Parliament, during a debate on 2023 State Budget (OGE), the magistrate said there is a big difference in funds between the PGR and the Courts.

"PGR has more magistrates than the Courts: This means that the institution (PGR) needs more money", Pitta Groz has stressed.

To him, judges only work in the Courts, the MP magistrates operate in different areas such as the Criminal Investigation Service (SIC) , Migration and Foreigners Service (SME), Penitentiary Service.

According to the source, as the Courts receive higher portion of budget than that of the PGR, it means that Court employees have other befits the Public Prosecutor's Office (MP) do not have, due to limited resources allocated to them.

With scant resources "it will be very difficult for us to continue to provide the services that the population expects from us", regretted Attorney General Hélder Pita Groz.

Afrobasket-2023: Senior female pre-team summoned

Luanda – Eighteen players have joined the national senior female basketball pre-team, ahead of qualifying tournament for Afrobasket-2023, scheduled for 20 -28 February in Zimbabwe.

The main teams of 1.º de Agosto and Interclube provided the greater number of athletes, with seven each, in the list released Thursday by coach Jaime Covilhã.

Check the list of the summoned athletes:

Point Guards: Italee Lucas, Cácia António, Edvánia Pascoal (Interclube), Rosa Gala and Isabel Fernandes (1º de Agosto) and Armanda Sindalawa (August 1st B).

Shooting Forward: Ana Gonçalves, Denise Pascoal and Isabel João (1.º de Agosto), Alexia Dizeko (South Technical College of Georgia), Sara Caetano (Asvel Aquade Academy in France), Teresa Sacato (Núcleo do Interclube de Benguela).

Small Forward: Eduarda Gabriel, Jéssica Malange and Joana António (Interclube).

Power Forward: Avelina Peso, Cristina Matique (August 1st) and Nadir Manuel (Interclube).

Head coach: Jaime Covilhã

Afrobasket will take place between the months of July and August, in Rwanda.

Angola holds two continental titles, won in Bamako (Mali), in 2011, and Maputo (Mozambique), in 2013.

Angola gets one more tool to fight drought

 Luanda - The fight against drought in southern region of Angola is reinforced with the new satellite data collection and transmission system on water resources and on identifying of the most vulnerable population settlements in the country of today.

The Support System for Policies to Combat Drought in Southern Angola project, operates with three US satellites specialised in soil radiography, particularly in the assessment of water resources.

The USD 550 million-project is funded by the American Space Agency (NASA).

The three-year project is aimed to provide the Angolan Government with data on the state of water resources and the location of the drought-affected population.

The use of space technology will allow this system to provide information on the ideal locations for the implementation of structuring projects, such as Cafú canal in Cunene.

Therefore, the “Support System for Policies to Combat Drought in Southern Angola” will serve as a source of information to support decision-making on policies in the short, medium and long term.

Addressing a presentation ceremony of the project, the manager, the American Danielle Wood, said the project is underway.

The manager added that it is being developed with Angolan staff, particularly from the National Space Programme Management Office (GGPEN).

The American specialist said that a software (snap) will provide data that will generate accurate information that will help solve the problem of cyclical drought in the southern region of the country.

In turn, Osvaldo Porto, manager of GGPEN project, said that in this project it will not be possible to use Angosat2 due to its characteristics focused on telecommunications.

“We are not going to use Angosat2 because it is an exclusive telecommunications satellite and not an Earth observation satellite. For this purpose, remote sensor satellites are being used that gravitate in an orbit lower than that of telecommunications”, noted the specialist.

In turn, the Secretary of State for Telecommunications and Information Technologies, Pascoal Alé Fernandes, considered the project an important platform for the collection, organisation and sharing of systematic and permanent information.

“This project is an initiative of the ICT sectors, in partnership with the US engineering institute “Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), which joins other initiatives of the Angolan Government to significantly reduce the impact resulting from the cyclical drought situations, particularly in the southern part of Angola.

The official said in 2019 Angola suffered the worst drought in the last 40 years.

According to him, the pluviometer index was below 65% of normal levels, leaving more than 1,300 people from the provinces of Cunene, Huíla and Namibe, with high financial losses coupled with exacerbation of the social problems of the local populations.

Angola and Russia improve cooperation mechanisms

 Luanda – Angolan minister of Foreign Affairs Téte António Wednesday in Luanda said that Angola and Russia will improve cooperation mechanisms, identifying new areas as part of bilateral relations.

Téte António was speaking during a meeting with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, who has been in Angola since Tuesday.

Angola’s top diplomat pointed out, among others, the areas of agriculture, manufacturing industry and agro-industry as some of the priorities for the growth of the country.

According to the minister, the two countries are connected by traditionally friendly relations, a guarantee for a frank and friendly dialogue on bilateral relations and common interest.

The Angolan official said that it was an opportunity to analyse cooperation prospects, including the holding of the inter-governmental commission meeting to take place, in principle, in Luanda.

“Angola favors inclusive dialogue, political commitments based on national interests, constitutional restoration (…) always respecting the principle of non-interference”, said the top diplomat.

He added that the Angolan State defends negotiation as a mutually accepted solution to end the conflicts in the world, giving priority to respect for international law.

Téte António noted that the Angolan government is concerned about human casualties in different conflicts, as well as the destruction of infrastructure.

The minister added that Angola encourages Russia to give a "chance" in the conflict with Ukraine, establishing a cease-fire that could restore a climate of world peace.

In his turn, the Russian minister, Sergey Lavrov, stated that relations with Angola are based on the spirit of solidarity and a strategic partnership.

Sergey Lavrov said that the Russian government appreciates Angola's balanced positions in the United Nations, specifically those linked to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

The Russian official also spoke of the reasons behind the conflict, stating that it is a matter of defending the territorial integrity and the populations residing in the border regions.

“To protect people's lives and its own security, Russia was forced to intervene militarily,” he added.

Angola and Russia’s privileged relations date back to October 8, 1976, the date on which the Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation was signed in Moscow, at the time capital of the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).

On 16 November 2004, the two countries signed, in Luanda, an agreement for the re-launch of cooperation in the economic and technical-scientific domains and, the following day, created the intergovernmental commission for economic, technical-scientific and commercial cooperation.

Currently, cooperation is most significant in the sectors of energy, geology and mining, higher education, staff training, defense and security, telecommunications and information technologies, fisheries, transport, finance and banking.

By this time, it is estimated that at least 1,000 Russians are residing in Angola, while 1,500 Angolans live in Russia.

Interior Ministry, Media discuss public safety in Huambo

 Huambo – The delegate of the Ministry of Interior in the central Huambo province Manuel Gonçalves addressed Thursday the challenges of public security and the issue on taking the law into one's own hands.

Manuel Gonçalves analysed the matters during a meeting with the heads of the local Media houses.

The meeting, which was attended by the director of the Social Communication Office, André Ramos Marta Pereira Santana, discussed the strengthening of the institutional relationship between the bodies of the Interior Ministry and the press.

The participants focused on crime prevention, through reporting, mainly, acts of vandalism of public property and taking the law into one’s own hands.

The meeting also gathered the directors of Huambo’s radio stations (João Domingos Gaspar Pedro), radio + (Elsa Inakulo Marcelino), Edições Novembro  (Sérgio Viera Dias), representative from the Production Center of Angola's Public Television (Israel Chitali) and the ANGOP delegate (Aurélio Janeiro Sacalei Soi).

Speaking to the press, the spokesman for the Branch of the Interior Ministry in Huambo, Martinho Kavita Satito, said that the meeting served to strengthen the institutional ties with the Media, which he described as an ideal partners for the dissemination and success of police operations.

Luanda to host Angola-Russia Joint Commission Meeting in April

 Luanda- Russia’s minister of Foreign Affairs Sergev Lavrov has announced a Joint Commission Meeting between his country and Angola for April to identify new areas of cooperation.

Russia’s top diplomat announced this on Tuesday in Luanda at the end of a meeting between the delegations of Russia and Angola, as part of his visit to Angola. 

According to him, the States expect to focus on the fields of energy, telecommunications, information technologies, geology and mines, space and agro-industry.

Sergey Lavrov said he hoped that the Joint Commission meeting could take place at the end of April in Luanda, having praised the historical and friendly relations with Angola.

The launch of the Angolan satellite Angosat 2, last October, said the Russian minister, makes it possible to open new lines of cooperation not only in the space domain, but in other areas of technology.

As for the meeting between Angolan and Russian delegations, he noted that the parties agreed to speed up cooperation in the field of atomic energy and raise the number of scholarships from 150 to 300 students in his country.

The heads of diplomacy of Angola Teté António and Russia Sergey Lavrov corroborate the need to expand the UN Security Council, with candidates from Africa and Latin America.

The Russian diplomat said that he appreciates Angola's efforts towards regional peace, having underlined that his country accepts, in principle, African solutions to matters on the African continent.

He noted that the Russia-Africa summit should take place in July, in Saint Petersburg. Meanwhile, the Angolan Minister of Foreign Affairs urged a negotiated solution and a ceasefire in the war against Ukraine.

Sergey Lavrov accuses West of using Ukraine for destabilising Russia and colonising the Russian peoples living in that country. 

Teté António said that cooperation with Russia should meet Angola's development needs. 

He stressed that the exploration of the diamond sector requires innovative solutions given the strategic importance of this ore (diamond) for the national economy.

Angola and Russia have had privileged relations since October 8, 1976, the date on which the Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation was signed in Moscow, at the time capital of the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).

On 16 November 2004, the two countries signed in Luanda an agreement for the re-launch of cooperation in the economic and technical-scientific domains and, the following day, created the intergovernmental commission for economic, technical-scientific and commercial cooperation.

Currently, cooperation is most significant in the sectors of energy, geology and mining, higher education, staff training, defence and security, telecommunications and information technologies, fisheries, transport, finance and banking.

By this time, it is estimated that at least 1,000 Russians are living in Angola, while 1,500 Angolans reside in Russia.

Health minister hails doctors’ relentless work

 Luanda – Angolan minister of Health Sílvia Lutucuta welcomed Thursday the medical class for the sacrifices made in favour of a better service offered to the entire population.

The minister was speaking Thursday in Luanda, ahead of National Doctor’s Day, celebrated on 26 Jan., under the motto "Doctors united, confident, using lives to save lives".

Sílvia Lutucuta stressed the commitment to continue focusing on the professional class to maintain the resilience of the health sector.

The minister acknowledged that there is still much to be done in the health units to offer excellent conditions to all professionals, both nationals and foreigners, who side by side share the challenge of saving lives.

In order to iron out these difficulties, the minister mentioned the investments made by the Executive in infrastructure at all levels.

As example, she mentioned the construction of the new hospitals, hiring of new doctors, as well as the implementation of specialised and continuous training.

The minister took the advantage to reiterate the commitment of the Ministry of Health (MINSA) to improving working conditions, focused on primary health care, as well as valuing professionals and providing quality access to health services in all places and times.