Angola Elects 2022 — Issue #2
Some voter fraud fears allayed, but others remain; Unita candidate praises state broadcasters' campaign coverage
Welcome back to the Angola Economic and Political Risk Briefing — and to the second edition of our special coverage of this year’s general elections in Angola (you can read yesterday’s first edition, free of charge, here).
In this issue:
🗳 Some voter fraud fears allayed……but others remain
🕵️♂️ CPLP observers express concerns
📺📻 Costa Junior praises state broadcasters’ campaign coverage
🛂 The painless Angolan entry process
Angolans head to the polls tomorrow to elect their president and National Assembly. The incumbent, President João Lourenço, was elected at the head of the MPLA ticket in September 2017. His predecessor, President José Eduardo dos Santos, had ruled Angola since 1979, making him one of Africa’s longest serving heads of state.
All eyes are on this election, as Lourenço’s popularity ratings have declined significantly since he first took charge, due to economic difficulties compounded by the impacts of the covid-19 pandemic. Recent surveys suggest that the ruling MPLA will be fighting for political survival, up against the threat of the increasingly popular Unita opposition party.
Zitamar News has a special correspondent on the ground in Angola to cover the crucial elections in August 2022 — allowing us to send daily updates to subscribers to this newsletter.
Fernando Lima, a senior editor at Zitamar News, has covered all of Angola’s and Mozambique’s multiparty elections since the start of the democratic era in the 1990s, as well as the New York and Bicesse Accords. He is in Angola to cover these elections for Zitamar as well as Mozambican and Portuguese media and the Associated Press.
SEE: Angolans prepare for elections amid calls for a poll sit-in
This newsletter will go on ice again after the election fortnight is over; but Zitamar Consulting remains available to provide bespoke reports on political and economic risk as the full implications of what could be a turbulent period become clear.
Please forward this email to friends and colleagues who will find it relevant — our election coverage is free for all to read.
🗳 Some voter fraud fears allayed……but others remain
24 hours before the elections, the Angolan CNE (National Commission for Elections) has started to publish the names of “list delegates” in the Jornal de Angola newspaper. These are lists of the parties’ representatives that should be present at all polling stations. The fact of these lists not being released was one of the complaints by opposition groups in the run-up to the election. But another concern is the lack so far of the “voters list” with the relevant location where every citizen is entitled to vote. The opposition parties fear that without these lists being published, people could end up voting in indiscriminate locations, making it harder to track vote manipulation and fraud.
The CNE has certainly left it to the last minute to publish these lists, however, they will go some way towards allaying fears of electoral malpractice amongst opposition groups. Unfortunately, there remain worrying indications that this will likely not be a free and fair vote. This week there were accusations from one civil society group that around 2 million dead Angolans remained on the electoral roll.
🕵️♂️ CPLP observers express concerns
Jorge Carlos Fonseca, former president of Cape Verde and the head of CPLP (Community of the Portuguese Speaking Countries) observer mission in Angola, made headlines by saying he is listening to different perceptions on the role of electoral institutions in Angola — citing Unita’s complaints contesting the independence of CNE. Yesterday he led a strong contingent of CPLP observers to Cazenga, where Unita candidate Adalberto da Costa Junior was making his last appearance. It was noted that he was not present at Camama on Saturday, where the MPLA candidate João Lourenço delivered his final speech.
It is both encouraging and surprising to hear Fonseca making such statements in his official capacity, given the CPLP’s long track record of rubber-stamping flawed electoral processes within their member states. His absence at the MPLA rally, while attending that of Unita, is perhaps a diplomatic gaffe, but will provide further assurance that he is not in Angola to rubber-stamp a fraudulent MPLA win. The Angolan government is generally happy to allow CPLP, African Union and SADC monitors to observe their elections, given the low risk of negative feedback. By contrast, the MPLA would not admit EU monitors to the last legislative elections in 2017, and caused tensions with EU representatives this time round with the timing of observer invitations. One of the sticking points in 2017 was the EU’s demand for their observers to have unfettered access to all polling stations nationwide during the vote.
📺📻 Costa Junior praises state broadcasters’ campaign coverage
Unita candidate Adalberto da Costa Junior has praised the state television and radio broadcasters TPA and RNA for covering his campaign events, not only those of the MPLA.
Public media in Africa is notorious for its alignment with the governments of the day, particularly during electoral periods. Angola is no exception, and the Reporters Without Borders index for 2022 noted that “State-owned media dominate the Angolan media landscape. Only 20 or so of the 120 radio stations are privately owned and only two of them – Rádio Ecclesia, which is linked to the Catholic Church, and Rádio MFM – are regarded as independent.” It was therefore surprising to see Costa Junior praising the work of public media, noting that Unita’s political events are finally being covered live by TPA and RNA. However, his olive branch to the state broadcasters was met with silence from the crowd at the rally, who had cheered the other actors that Costa Junior had made a point of thanking.
🛂 The painless Angolan entry process
International media and observers have been pleasantly surprised by the attitude of Angolan immigration authorities handling visitors at Luanda’s Quatro de Fevereiro International Airport. Covid-19 tests are mandatory upon arrival, but the process has been expedited, now being fast and free of charge (throughout covid-19 payment used to be taken with card terminals that would often reject international cards, causing stress and delays for visitors). The same can be said of the positive attitude of the SME (Serviço de Migração e Estrangeiros) immigration officers, usually part of the security apparatus. Only minimal questions are asked at passport control. Stress is further reduced with free wi-fi made available at the “covid hangar” and the SME premises, so that visitors can have instant communications with their institutions or families upon arrival.
Under former President dos Santos, Angola used to be a bureaucratic nightmare for visitors, with tourism and work visas both extremely difficult to obtain, and many immigrants working illegally on Ordinary visas. Tourist visas were only introduced in November 2007, and it quickly gained a reputation as being one of the hardest tourist visas in Africa to get hold of. On 1 December 2017, less than three months after coming to power, President Lourenço signed a reciprocal visa-waiver programme with South Africa. The following March, President Lourenço introduced a tourist e-visa on arrival for citizens of 35 countries, later expanding it to 59 countries (including all EU nations). It is likely that many foreigners are visiting Angola for the first time during this election, and are being pleasantly surprised by the relatively new simple entry procedures.
