MPLA President João Lourenço on Tuesday highlighted the efforts of the past two years to combat corruption in Angola and underlined that the party “is prohibited from passing wrong messages” on this issue.
In his opening speech of the 2nd ordinary meeting of the Political Bureau of the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), party in power for almost 45 years, the also head of the Angolan executive addressed the Covid-19 pandemic and the economic situation and politics of the country and left messages to the critical voices of the fight against corruption, especially with regard to the legal proceedings against Isabel dos Santos.
“Some consider only the best or least number of people listed, detained or sentenced to be good results, or that the State should have already recovered all assets, which is not realistic at all, since money has created the illusion in some and a false sense of impunity, not voluntarily returning the assets that belong to the Angolan people ”, underlined João Lourenço.
The MPLA president added that “the State and the Angolan justice system have no choice but to achieve the same objective through the legal means at their disposal, including international judicial cooperation”.
The Angolan President mentioned “the voices that arise in the sense that the fight against corruption is being poorly managed and that the best way out would be to organize a debate within the MPLA to solve the problem” within the political formation, but stressed that this is not just an MPLA problem.
“It is a problem for Angolans and for society as a whole, no political force can claim the right to monopolize it, otherwise it will be understood as an attempt to whiten its people,” said the head of state.
João Lourenço indicated that the debate on major national issues is always welcome as long as it is not limited to a single political party and that “the fight against corruption does not lead the political power to interfere against justice, jeopardizing independence of the courts ”.
“After the gains made by the country in terms of reputation, the MPLA is prohibited from sending wrong and discouraging messages to society, the courts, investors and the international community,” he said.
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