UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA - AFRICAN STUDIES CENTER
Angola News Online (6) - 12/8/97

Angola News Online (6) - 12/8/97

ANGOLA NEWS ONLINE/ANGOLA NEWS ONLINE/ANGOLA NEWS ONLINE


Edition #6 8 December 1997

Subscribe to Angola News Online
A fortnightly update of news from Angola!

**********************************

In this edition:
Feature:
HEALTH SYSTEM STILL SICK
Stories:
1. JUDGE TO SERVE JAIL TERM
2. NEW FINANCIAL SCANDAL
3. IMF STRUGGLING TO AUDIT OIL ACCOUNTS
4. KWANZA UP 17.4 PER CENT
5. OVER 4,7 MILLION CHILDREN VACCINATED AGAINST POLIO
6. CHILDREN UNDER 15 INCREASINGLY EXPOSED TO AIDS
7. UNITA RE-LAYING LANDMINES, SAYS UN
8. GOVERNMENT ACCUSED OF EXCLUDING UNITA
9. US, BRITAIN CRITICIZED OVER DELAYED SANCTIONS ON UNITA
10.NEW MASS GRAVE FOUND IN HUAMBO
11.GOVERNMENT AUTHORITY FULLY RESTORED IN FOUR PROVINCES
12."AMERICAN CATERPILLAR" PLAGUE THREATENS CROPS
13. CARE INTERNATIONAL EXPELS OFFICIAL OVER DRUG USE

Feature:

HEALTH SYSTEM STILL SICK

It was more than ten years ago that an Angolan journalist wrote "Health is Sick". The report portrayed the terrible health conditions and services found at a number of hospitals he had visited. It gave a clear warning that urgent action on the part of the government authorities was needed to reverse the situation or that this situation would go from bad to worse.

Angola was then in its first years of the post independence period and a socialist-orientated institutional system had just been established and with this such services as health and education were declared as being free to all. At that time, Angolans blindly applauded the new social order based on the famous Marxist-Leninist principles.

Under this concept, the country survived for the next few years with the state claiming full monopoly over the management of all the various services and the country's infrastructure, promising to care and cater for everyone on an equal basis. As time passed, however, the civil society and some of those in authority gradually understood that the state could never support such huge expenses alone.But, by then it was too late.

Twenty two years have elapsed since independence and four since Marxism was dropped, and the results of mismanagement have been seen to be catastrophic. Most resented is the position in the social sectors. Health and education have become a mirror of the degradation and impoverishment in a country described as being "very rich in natural resources". The government now faces serious difficulties in the settlement of its domestic debt, a debt that consists mostly of unpaid salaries due its civil service,estimated at about 300,000 workers, and the rebuilding of its crumbling social infrastructure.

As a result, the increasingly poor quality of health and education services has cultivated amongst workers the habit of relying on bribes to get what they need. Doctors and nurses will hardly help a patient unless that patient is prepared to resort to a bribe, and because of this a person seeking medical assistance has to make sure he has somethingin his pocket to buy the service he needs.

A toothless and voiceless trade union movement has helped the government keep the status quo intact. Because of this, workers go for months without being paid but are powerless to exert any effective pressure. With few days left before the end of the year, for instance, the state presently owes civil servants over the whole country salaries dating back nearly five months on average to which can be added the fact that these salaries can only be seen as derisive in their amounts.

Frustrated and running out of patience because of the terrible misfortunes the lack of money brings, health workers in Luanda have been on strike since November 24, after prolonged negotiations with the government proved fruitless. Negotiations started in May this year when the health and civil service trade union wrote to the government demanding payment of arrears which in some cases dated back to late 1996.

The government, however,does not seem to be very moved by the strike apparently because it is used to "letting children cry until they cool down themselves". Still far from their goal, the strikers now face another problem: people with low incomes have nowhere to go to find a doctor when their children are sick. During the first two weeks of the strike, large crowds queued up at closed hospital doors all day long, hoping that they could at least get the emergency care usually promised by the law when there is a strike.But no. There were even reported cases of seriously ill people dying in the queues.

The only hospitals open were the private and expensive clinics now scattered all over the city, but these ordinary people could not afford to enter.

Stories:

1.JUDGE TO SERVE JAIL TERM

For the first time in Angola's history, a judge has been sent to jail after prosecutors found him guilty of a 'crime of extortion and abuse of authority'.

The Luanda-based judge Miguel dos Santos was sentenced to 36 months in jail, plus a US$350 indemnity after he initially risked serving 16-20 years in jail. He was accused of forging an arrest warrant against Celestino Francisco, from whom he had demanded the settling of someone else's debt estimated at US$4,000.

Prosecutors at the supreme court said both Miguel dos Santos' regret during the hearings and cooperation during investigations earned him the leniency of the court in relaxing the jail term. The unexpected sentencing of the judge took observers by surprise as many similar cases have occurred but none have before been taken to court.

According to lawyers, this is mostly because of the inefficiency of the legal system which stems from the corruption that has hit almost all walks of life in Angola.

2. NEW FINANCIAL SCANDAL

A total of 15 trillion Angolan Kwanzas (about US$50 million), has reportedly disappeared from the CAP bank in Luanda in a scandal widely believed to involve cabinet officials, members of parliament and their relatives and close friends.

The fraud was detected by the commercial BCI bank, when confronted by a large number of "empty" cheques whose owners wanted compensation. Local media sources reported that the loss is partly due to credit granted mainly to people in the government, parliament and armed forces, who are unwilling to return amounts borrowed to the bank.

Reports say that huge amounts of money was also lent to "phantom firms," mostly based in remote provinces who "relied on false credits". According to well-informed sources, many of these people would issue cheques worth millions of kwanza to draw out "credit money" in one province, paying it back 30 days later with money withdrawn on the same basis but in another province

Many cases of false cheques bearing false stamps were also discovered in the generaldisorganization which left those in debt uncontrolled by the bank, which seemingly turned to fueling consumption rather than productive activities, the sources said. This lack of control seemed to have been an ideal opportunity for many members of parliament and top government officials, as well as high ranking army officers and their close friends, to take advantage. This is reflected in the luxury cars and permanently repaired houses they own.

However, the CAP director, Mr Edmundo Silva has dismissed the reports as exaggerated. The central bank has set up a commission of inquiry for an audit but no findings have yet been made available. 3. IMF STRUGGLING TO AUDIT OIL ACCOUNTS

Economic analysts have predicted tough relations between the Angolan government and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), over the alleged reluctance of the former to allow an independent audit to the Angolan oil incomes accounts.

It is said that since April this year the IMF has waited for a green light from the Angolan authorities to view the actual balance of the oil accounts. The IMF sees this as a necessary step in assessing the government efforts to regulate expenditure.

The IMF and the World Bank initially wanted the audit to be extended to the accounts both of the BNA central bank and of diamonds, but possibly because of government objections they had accepted omitting these two areas. They have said that they will not, however, omit that of petroleum which accounts for about 90 per cent of Angola exports.

Analysts maintain that in fact it is important for the IMF to be aware of public spending before it can inform donors on whether Angola would be entitled to new loans. Reports in Luanda say that the BNA governor recently advised the IMF representative in Luanda, Mr Corentino dos Santos, that the Angolan government found it "untimely" for such an audit due to the situation in the country. The IMF official could not be reached for comments.

Angola's oil output is presently set at 750,000 barrels per day (bpd) and is expected to rise to over a million bpd in the year 2,000. Three new oil wells were recently struck in the northern region of Soyo. One of the camps, the "Girassol (sunflower)" is believed to have reserves of about 1.4 billion barrels.

4. KWANZA UP 17.4 PER CENT

After a prolonged depreciation of its currency during the first nine months of 1997, Angola gained some monetary stability in October when its "Kwanza Reajustado" (KZR) surprisingly reached a valuation of 17.4 per cent. Although this relative stability was kept through the second fortnight of November, inflation remained high with economists struggling to understand the reasons for the contrast.

Experts say that because such monetary stability failed to cause prices to fall as would be logically expected, there is little chance of the KZR keeping the upward trend through the coming months.

During the first nine months of the year there was an upward trend in KZR depreciation which reached approximately 46.2 percent, corresponding now to a loss of 32 percent, according to recently released statistics . 5. OVER 4,7 MILLION CHILDREN VACCINATED AGAINST POLIO

The health ministry has announced that a total of 2,556,378 children aged 0-5 were vaccinated against polio in Angola during the second phase of the campaign conducted throughout the country.

This phase, between August-September, was according to deputy minister of health Mrs Teresa Cohen, the most successful when compared to the first one. The second campaign covered 162 of the 166 municipalities of Angola.

During the previous campaign, 2,184 290 children were vaccinated. In both operations, the health ministry received help from soldiers with the UN mission in Angola (MONUA) and the Angolan armed forces (FAA).

Sponsors of the campaign were the World Health Organization, UNICEF and Rotary International.

6. CHILDREN UNDER 15 INCREASINGLY EXPOSED TO AIDS

Statistics released in Luanda on the occasion of World Aids Day on December 1, note that children under 15 have become increasingly exposed to the risks of contracting AIDS.

The Angolan health authorities say that 2,139 cases of AIDS have been diagnosed so far and that a considerable number of these are children. They acknowledge, however, that these figures are not reliable and did not reflect the real situation in the country. The actual figures are believed to be higher and far worse. This was estimated judging by the figures reported in the neighbouring countries such as Zambia (42,447), Democratic Republic of Congo (26,434), Congo Brazzaville (10,223) and Namibia (6 784). The incorrect figures are blamed on the poor clinical and laboratorial diagnosing capacity in all of Angola's provinces.

One of the factors for the increased number of children infected is the socio-economic hardship that hits especially war-displaced families where children are forced into prostitution in order to earn a living. There have also been increased reports of cases of sexual abuse against children over the last few years, mainly in the capital Luanda.

7. UNITA RE-LAYING LANDMINES, SAYS UN

The United Nations has accused Angolas's UNITA movement of replanting landmines in areas already cleared with the help of the international community. In deploring this attitude, Mr David Wimhurst, the spokesman for the UN Observer Mission in Angola (MONUA), said nine cases of civilians stepping on mines were recently reported in Angola's central province of Bie.

He said that the incidents were against the (ongoing) peace process and may call into question the help extended by the international community. On December 4, army members in the eastern Lunda-Sul province captured 12 UNITA soldiers who had allegedly attempted to destroy a newly repaired bridge.

The soldiers said on television after being captured that they had instructions from the movement's leadership to hide their guns just in case war resumed.

8. GOVERNMENT ACCUSED OF EXCLUDING UNITA The leader of Angola's major opposition movement Mr Jonas Malheiro Savimbi recently accused the government authorities of perpetrating what he called "a wave of physical exclusion of UNITA from the political scene".

Mr Savimbi, in a letter to UN secretary general Kofi Annan said that contrary to all expectations "the government's position is systematically becoming one of military occupation of territory followed by the murder of local leaders and more distinguished UNITA militants".

The letter went on to say that "UNITA appeals to the UN and all organizations defending human life and rights to use all their influence on the Luanda government to immediately put an end to this wave of physical exclusion of UNITA (...) and the killing of party leaders and others and that those responsible must be identified and brought to justice".

Savimbi's plea coincided with reports in Luanda that 12 of a group of 22 UNITA soldiers held up by police in northern Malanje province had been found dead in local jails. This occurred days after the local provincial police commander, Mr Antonio Martins de Sousa "Kipacassa," publicly announced that the 22 were detained as they attempted to seize the municipality of Kangandala on November 11, the 22nd anniversary of Angola's independence.

9. US, BRITAIN CRITICIZED OVER DELAYED SANCTIONS ON UNITA

The Angolan government has reiterated its disappointment at the behaviour of some United Nations member countries "unwilling" to enforce the recent UNSC sanctions placed on the UNITA movement.

The Angolan ambassador to the UN, Mr Afonso Vandunem "Mbinda" said that it was regrettable "to see that countries like the United States and Britain have taken no concrete action" to implement UNSC resolution 1135 which placed a diplomatic and air embargo on Jonas Savimbi's UNITA movement.

Reports from Washington say that influential US congressmen recently asked Secretary of State Albright not to close the UNITA office there which is known as the "Center for Democracy in Angola". The proposal for the current sanctions was an initiative of US president Bill Clinton and strongly supported by the United Kingdom. Under the above resolution, all UN member states were told to close all UNITA offices in their countries and deny any entry visas and permits to stay, to senior officials of the movement and their close relatives. Only France and Portugal have so far complied with the sanctions by officially closing the UNITA bureaus in their capitals. Denmark, South Africa and Ivory Coast have announced their determination to apply the sanctions.

During the war in Angola, Ivory Coast provided UNITA officials with passports to facilitate their movement across the world.

10. NEW MASS GRAVE FOUND IN HUAMBO

A mass grave with over 400 bodies was recently discovered in Angola's central highland Huambo province, just months after another 600 human skeletons were found in a reservoir there.

In both cases, the graves were blamed on the UNITA movement which controlled the area for several months. The new mass grave, 19 kilometers from the Huambo provincial capital, was discovered by members of the Angolan armed forces (FAA) during demining operations.

According to UN officials, some of the victims were bound and in UNITA uniform. UNITA has, however, shrugged off any responsibility for the killing which it has blamed on the ruling MPLA party of President Jose Eduardo dos Santos. It referred to the act as "a new wave of massacres perpetrated against UNITA militants" and said that they had "challenged the government to open them but silence was the response".

Earlier this year, another mass grave was discovered by the police in the oil-rich Soyo region in the north of the country. The blame was also placed at the door of UNITA whose forces occupied the area for about two years.

11.GOVERNMENT AUTHORITY FULLY RESTORED IN FOUR PROVINCES Official sources have announced in Luanda that the government has fully recovered control of three provinces in the north and one in the southern region. In the north, the sources said, the process of normalization of state administration has been completed in the provinces of Kwanza-Norte, Bengo and Zaire whereas in the south, the government now fully controls Huila. The administration now installed in the areas includes a number of UNITA appointees at the municipal and communal level.

Troubles in the state authority normalizing process were reported, however, in the northern Malanje and southern Cunene provinces where UNITA, who once held 70 per cent of Angola's territory, are accused of not collaborating allegedly because of a lack of instructions from the leadership in Bailundo.

Angola is divided into 18 provinces including the capital Luanda.

12. "AMERICAN CATERPILLAR" PLAGUE THREATENS CROPS

Experts with the ministry of agriculture recently rushed to the central coastal Benguela province to begin investigations into large farming areas affected by the caterpillar plague.

They were experimenting on the technical methods to be used in the use of the chemicals expected to be distributed to peasant farmers to fight the "American caterpillar" plague which is destroying cereals farms in the Benguela municipalities of Caimbambo, Ganda and Cubal.

Once the chemicals are made available by the central government the farmer will be given instructions on how to use them for successful eradication of the pest.

13. CARE INTERNATIONAL EXPELS OFFICIAL OVER DRUG USE

Nguene Young, American "Care International" representative in Angola's central Bie Province, was recently relieved of his position and sent home, reportedly because of alleged drug use and misconduct.

This followed findings by the local police who searched Young's vehicle,found

abandoned in a Kuito city street after a road accident. During investigations, the police allegedly found "five feet of marijuana" planted in the yard of Young's house in Kuito. Another US national, Mr Dominique has taken over as the Bie representative of Care International, one of the many NGOs operating in Angola in different fields, including humanitarian aid, and assistance in demining operations.

********************************

From: AfricaNN@inform-bbs.dk (Africa_news Network) Date: Mon, 08 Dec 1997 18:39:54 +0100 Subject: ANGOLA NEWS ONLINE #6 Message-ID: <1262342141.20554569@inform-bbs.dk>

Previous Menu Home Page What's New Search Disclaimer