Angola groups endorse mass protests. Angolan opposition parties and rights groups have finally endorsed the plan to put pressure on President Jose Eduardo Dos Santos to step down. Reacting to an anonymous call for a mass protest on March 6, some rights groups and opposition have said the peaceful protest would be a step towards realisation of democracy in the country. According to a Facebook page called "The Angolan People's Revolution", the protest will take place at midnight on March 6 (2300 GMT) at Independence Square in the capital city, Luanda, and throughout the country. Under the pseudonym Agostinho Jonas Roberto dos Santos -- the first names of the leaders of Angola's three independence movements and the surname of the current president -- the organiser called on Angolans to "march with posters demanding the departure of Ze Du (Dos Santos' nickname), his ministers and his corrupt friends".
They were also careful to deny any links with the Facebook group fronting this cause. Angola anti-government protest has died out. Interesting facts & figures The anonymous initiator of Monday’s anti-government protest goes by the pseudonym Agostinho Jonas Roberto dos Santos, the first names of the leaders of Angola's three independence movements and the current President’s surname.
The Facebook page ‘The Angolan People's Revolution’ demanding “the departure of Ze Du [Dos Santos' nickname], his ministers and his corrupt friends" only had some 100 members shortly before the weekend. However, only an estimated 5 percent of Angolans have internet access. Angola is Africa’s second biggest oil producer, one of the world’s biggest diamond producers, and the world’s fastest growing economy of the past decade.
Luanda is the world’s most expensive city for expats. Annual inflation: around 15 percent and fuel prices recently increased by 50 percent. Unemployment rate is 50 percent. Angolan protesters who tried to unseat on Monday the 32-year-old MPLA government have reportedly gone home. The capital Luanda is quiet again. Angola tense as journalists, protesting youth targeted by government. Barely three weeks after an Angolan judge thought to be a member of the ruling MPLA (People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola - Labour Party) handed down a two year-suspended sentence to a journalist and fined him US$105 000 (about R840 000), another Angolan journalist is being threatened with harm and possibly death by armed gunmen believed to be working for the government.
New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) last night urged authorities in the Angolan enclave of Cabinda to take all steps necessary to ensure the safety of independent journalist José Manuel Gimbi, following reports that unidentified armed men raided Gimbi's residence on Thursday 27 October 2011, and threatened to harm him. Critical media targeted President Dos Santos, has denied being a dictator and vowed to stay on despite tensions and a wave of protests by youth apparently disgusted by extreme poverty, high unemployment, human rights violations and economic mismanagement.
Threats. Angolan activists jailed over attack on Togo football team. Angolan Spring - Protests Shaking Up Authorities. LUANDA, Nov 15, 2011 (IPS) - Adolfo Andre knows what he wants for his country and says he will fight on until he gets it. "What we need is the president to leave power, he’s been there for too many years and it is time for him to go," he said defiantly. "When I see my brothers and sisters living in these terrible conditions when the country is so rich yet people are dying of hunger and from not having clean water or medicines, I have to fight for this because I am Angolan. " The 32-year-old, who was born two weeks before Angola’s President Jose Eduardo dos Santos took office in 1979, is part of a new youth protest movement which emerged in the country at the start of this year.
Partly inspired by the Arab Spring, partly by their own experiences of living abroad, but mostly by what they say is utter frustration about the huge inequalities that divide Angola, the group has no fixed political affiliations and no formal leadership. But standing up to the Angolan authorities comes with a cost. Angolan court frees anti-Dos Santos protesters. 14 October 2011Last updated at 18:35 There are growing protests against President Jose Eduardo Dos Santos' rule Angola's Supreme Court has ordered the release of 18 youths jailed last month for protesting against President Jose Eduardo dos Santos's 32-year rule. An emergency court convicted the youths for public order offences. The Supreme Court overturned the ruling, saying there was insufficient evidence against them. Tension has been rising in Angola ahead of elections due next year, with opposition groups calling for Mr Dos Santos to step down.
He is Africa's longest-serving ruler, along with Equatorial Guinea's Teodoro Obiang. 'North Africa-inspired' The BBC's Louise Redvers in the capital, Luanda, says the Supreme Court's decision has been widely welcomed as the initial convictions were seen as draconian. The protesters had been jailed for between 45 and 90 days after taking part in a demonstration in Luanda early last month. Change on the way for Angola - In The Paper.
After nearly 32 years of being ruled by one president, change may finally be on its way to oil-rich Angola, where anti-government protests have ruffled the feathers of the ruling elite. The protests may have been small in size and number. But the fact that they are happening at all in a country where critical voices are vigorously suppressed is being interpreted as a significant pointer. An Arab Spring-style uprising is highly unlikely, as most Angolans are still scarred by the 27-year civil war that ended in 2002. But there is a growing discontent among ordinary people, who feel they have not shared in the country’s peace dividend. In spite of Angola’s rich natural resource base and its status as the world’s fastest-growing economy in the past decade, many people live in desperate poverty, without access to water or electricity, while education and health services are poor. “Angola is not the same any more.
“It might take longer than two years, but things are going to happen. Why the Arab Spring worries Luanda | Article Preview | Africa Confidential. Africa Confidential's reporting and analysis is valued by a wide range of organisations and individuals: from corporate executives, country risk analysts, national politicians and members of the diplomatic corps, to intelligence operatives, academics, journalists and NGO personnel. Here's what our readers say about us: "If you want the detail and you want the dirt, the little blue newsletter [Africa Confidential] that drops through your letter box is like having your own private spook who knows Africa inside out and who's also one hell of a gossip.
"Jonathan Miller, Foreign Affairs Correspondent, Channel 4 News, London, UK "Since the demise of reporting on Africa in Western newspapers, and especially in the UK, in recent years, Africa Confidential has become ever more indispensable to anyone trying to make sense of the continent. "We regard Africa Confidential as one of our best and most reliable sources of information and analysis. " "You are the best reporter on Africa alive. Will the Arab Spring spread south? | World news.