ANGOLA: IRIN Focus on independence anniversary
[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]
LUANDA, 10 November (IRIN) - "Twenty-five years of liberty, 25 years of
dignity" will, according to Angola's state-owned Radio Nacional, be
celebrated across the country on Saturday.
It marks the anniversary of independence, a date which in 1975 ended 500
years of Portuguese colonial rule. This week, the government issued a
statement to salute the "most significant date in our history". It also said
that peace is imminent, in a conflict that has raged almost uninterrupted
since before independence.
"Despite all our problems, our hope has been reborn. The changes in the
military situation in favour of Angola's Armed Forces have given us a new
hope for peace and we believe the war will end imminently," the government
declared.
However, for many Angolans, hope is all they have. Many people do not seem
to share the government's view that independence brought either liberty or
dignity.
"What dignity? Dignity in poverty? Dignity in getting money dishonestly?
What dignity?" asked Mario Vaz, a journalist aged 24. "We have only the same
system in Angola since 1975. We are not totally independent. We have war in
this country! What dignity?"
Among some of the older generation, a sense of bitterness prevails.
Zacharias is 64 years old. He is happy that Angola is no longer suffering
under colonial rule because the Portuguese treated him "like a dog".
Nevertheless, prior to independence Zacharias always had enough food and as
far as he can remember, he was paid "adequately". Twenty-five years ago, he
was living in Kuanza Sul province with his family. He remembers independence
day with affection, a day of dancing, drinking and laughing.
Today, he lives in Luanda with his older brother. Neither of them have any
work and Zacharias spends most of his day begging for food and money.
"We hear that we have 25 years of our independence. This 25 years have only
prevailed for the governors. They don't want to resolve anything. We, we who
are lower down, we're suffering," he said. "We're suffering more than the
shoe of [Jonas] Savimbi who lives in the bush."
For UNITA rebels, 11th November marks a day for contemplation. They
celebrate the departure of the Portuguese colonisers but they reflect on the
"25 years of misery" that followed. A senior UNITA official loyal to Jonas
Savimbi told IRIN that Angola is only nominally independent. He said that
the past 25 years have been about the physical destruction of the country,
and the moral and cultural destruction of its people.
Standing across the political divide is Rui Pinto de Andrade, aged 40, an
MPLA deputy in Angola's parliament, the National Assembly. On 11th November,
1975, he volunteered to be a guard at 1st May Square in Luanda, where
celebrations took place for independence. He remembers the day as a
"formidable, immense party". But fighting was close to the capital even
then.
"Basically, I have the same dreams today that I had then because the
objectives I had then have still not been obtained," he said. "In 1975, we
entered into a preliminary stage which was to promote and improve the
society of our people. Unfortunately, for obvious reasons, we didn't
achieve that. And so this objective continues and from my point of view, in
this respect, nothing has changed."
Sousa Jamba is an Angolan who now lives in the diaspora. He was nine years
old and living in Huambo city in 1975. His memories of independence are
illuminating: They tell a tale very similar to the lives of many Angolans
today.
"Independence is synonymous with war," said Sousa. "I remember when the war
began and the first Ovimbundu refugees came from Uige and Luanda to Huambo.
Then in January 1976, the first MPLA troops arrived in Huambo. In March, I
remember we left Huambo for Bie, and then Bie for Menongue, Menongue to
Cuito Cuanavale and finally, we fled to the fields. Eight months after
independence, we left the country."
Twenty-five years ago, the three Angolan liberation movements - UNITA, the
MPLA and the FNLA - were fighting. Today, UNITA and the MPLA remain at war.
Beyond the MPLA it is difficult to find people who believe that the
situation in Angola is changing for the better.
Some foreigners are optimistic, such as Paul Hare, US special representative
for the Angolan peace process between 1993 and 1998, who thinks "the next 25
years are going to be a hell of a lot better than the first 25". If the war
ends, he may be right.
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