October 11, 2020
From various quarters, messages of pain and dismay continue over the death of the governor of Uíge, Sérgio Luther Rescova, who died on Friday night in Luanda, victim of illness, at the age of 40.
The Minister of State and Chief of Staff of the President of the Republic, Adão de Almeida, opened the Benguela Court of Appeal yesterday, but, dismayed by the death of Sérgio Luther Rescova, dismissed the speech.
Hours earlier he had written the following on his Facebook page: “It wasn’t supposed to be like this, Comrade. There are generational challenges that we were supposed to face together. You can’t even say “rest in peace” because it was not the time to rest. Strong hug, Companion. We are together”.
The Minister of Justice and Human Rights affirms, in a message of condolences, that Sérgio Luther Rescova left a “very big void” in his family and in the country. “Sérgio Luther was a promising young man, easy to deal with, integrity and very dedicated to the causes of his country, who served with great dedication and a sense of mission,” he wrote.
The Minister of Telecommunications, Information Technologies and Social Communication, Manuel Homem, considered the death of the governor of Uíge “an irreparable loss”, stressing that the Angolan people “always saw him as a safe haven for their aspirations for progress and development of Angola”.
In a message of condolences, Manuel Homem praises the achievements of Sérgio Luther Rescova, stressing that, throughout his life, “he knew, courageously, to situate himself on the right side of history”.
The same sentiment is expressed by the Minister of Culture, Tourism and Environment, Adjany Costa, for whom “Angola loses one of its great sons, a patriot and an outstanding defender of the promotion and development of young people”. The minister recalls Sérgio Luther Rescova Joaquim as a “tireless political and academic leader with recognized competence”.
For the Minister of Economy and Planning, Sérgio Santos, Luther Rascova is “an undeniable example that Angola had young patriots and capable of contributing to the country’s development, in an unconditional way”.
“He did it at the party level, he did it by accepting to be governor of the province of Luanda, at the age of 38, and he did it again, when he embraced the mission, which he was given, to govern the province of Uíge”, said .
The ambassador to Kenya, Sianga Abílio, says it was “with great commotion” that he, his family and the Embassy staff learned of the death of the governor of Uíge.
The unfortunate event, he says, represents a severe blow to the province of Uíge, the MPLA and the country in general, which prematurely loses a promising and exemplary public servant.
Who also joins the pain is the UNITA parliamentary group, which considers Sérgio Luther Rescova as “a young Angolan cadre who stood out in his political organization, as a youth leader, in teaching, in Parliament and as a ruler”.
The provincial governor of Zaire, Pedro Makita, yesterday considered the premature death of the Uíge counterpart an irreparable loss for all Angolans, particularly for youth.
The ambassador to Zambia, Azevedo Francisco, considers that the “premature death” of Luther Rescova represents a “hard blow” to Angola and occurs at a time when the country’s authorities are deploying in multiple efforts to face Covid-19 and other illnesses affecting the population.
The president of the MPLA parliamentary group, Américo Cuononoca, considers that Sérgio Rescova’s quality and boldness in parliamentary interventions have made him a promising figure and an exemplary activist who will inspire other generations.
The President of the Republic, João Lourenço, declared, on Friday night, that it was “with the deepest consternation” that he became aware of the death of Sergíio Luther Rescova and presented his most heartfelt condolences to the family of the foe. , that of your family and the entire Executive.
The profile of the young politician
Sérgio Luther Rescova Joaquim was born on May 16, 1980, in the municipality of Damba, province of Uíge.
Master in Legal and Political Sciences and graduated in Law from the Catholic University of Angola, he was a deputy to the National Assembly, since 2008, inserted in the Commission for Constitutional and Legal Affairs and member of the Council of the Republic.
Sérgio Luther also held the position of national secretary of JMPLA, the youth organization of the ruling party, in which he was a member of the Central Committee’s Political Bureau.
He was governor of Luanda province, from 2 January 2019 to 26 May 2020, when he was appointed governor of Uíge.
Failed was “a model
for youth associations ”
The national secretary of JMPLA, Crispiniano
dos Santos, considers Sérgio Luther Rescova a model for leading the life of Angolan youth associations.
Crispiniano dos Santos, who replaced Luther Rescova at the head of JMPLA, said that he was an inspiring young man and committed to the causes of youth and Angolans.
“Luther Rescova was an inspiring young leader friend. With his death, we lost, in fact, a young politician with a very enviable path ”, said the leader of the MPLA youth organization, guaranteeing that his achievements will continue to serve as a driving force for the work of the new generation of leaders and JMPLA cadres, for the welfare of Angola and Angolans.
Memories of “Nelito” Ekuikui
The provincial secretary of UNITA in Luanda, Manuel da Costa “Nelito” Ekuikui said he has fond memories of Sérgio Luther Rescova. “With him I shared the political square in Luanda. He defending his party and I mine. With him, we had a dispute of camaraderie, of Angolanity and we knew, above all, how to evaluate the respect of the ethical minimum that the policy demands ”, he affirmed.
The young UNITA politician explained that he keeps for life a great gesture by Luther Rescova. “When, in April, the first cases of Covid-19 occurred, the populations adjacent to the Sequele Centrality were going through several difficulties, from the lack of food to the lack of water. I called him, as governor of Luanda and explained the concerns of those people. He asked for the contact details of the coordinators of the neighborhoods and promised to add water the next day. That is what happened. Governor Luther Rescova sent water tanks to those communities, ”he said.
In the deputy’s view, “Luther Rescova knew how to live up to his time”. “It hurts me because a young man left and with him the hope of building the Angola of tomorrow. With his death, they were the dreams of the great political disputes of the future ”, he acknowledged.
The president of the National Youth Council, Isaías Kalunga, said it was with “pain, admiration and deep consternation” that he became aware of the death.
Adelina Inácio
Dismay in Uíge
Leaders and cadres of political parties in Uíge with a seat in Parliament regretted the premature death of the governor of Uíge, Sérgio Luther Rescova, which occurred early Friday evening in Luanda, victim of illness.
Heard by Jornal de Angola, politicians were unanimous in considering that the death of Luther Rescova is an irreparable loss of a son of the land he had so much for the development of the province.
UNITA’s provincial secretary in Uíge, Félix Lucas, said he received the surprising news with deep pain and dismay, having been speechless for minutes. “It is so difficult at a time like this to speak about the governor, we felt a lot of pain and consternation, not only for the family, but also for us politicians because, right from the beginning of his duties in the province, he showed us a joy, brought constructive ideas and projects that could create improvements ”, he said.
Félix Lucas considered that Angola and Uíge, in particular, lose a frame and politician with marked intellectual capacity, a man of good census and easy relationship who in his agenda had a lot to give in the development of the country. “Therefore, the political class bows before its memory”.
The deputy to the National Assembly also recalled that, upon arrival in Uíge, the governor “began to clean the house”, placing capable individuals with constructive ideas, galvanizing a series of findings in the municipalities and taking promising steps in improving basic sanitation. . “This cheered the political class and the population in general,” he acknowledged.
The provincial executive secretary of CASA-CE in Uíge, Fonseca António, said that, in the three months of Luther Rescova’s rule, the province no longer had outbreaks of garbage, in addition to notable earthworks on several streets that were impassable.
According to Fonseca António, Luther Rescova had a political vision for the progress of the region, since at the beginning he showed patience to survey and diagnose the various problems in the province.
Domingos Gonçalves, a member of the FNLA, characterized Governor Luther Rescova as an individual who had a spirit of collaboration and unity, regardless of party affiliation. “I listened to youth without distinction and shared ideas with the general population. His death only brought the province backwards ”, he lamented.
Valter Gomes | Uige
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