ANGOLA - APRIL POLITICAL ROUNDUP

UNCLAS LUANDA 000476 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS ¶E. O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL AO SUBJECT: ANGOLA - APRIL POLITICAL ROUNDUP Ref: Luanda 475 -------------- ¶1. (U) SUMMARY -------------- -------------- Angola Funds the Gulf of Guinea Commission -------------- Supreme Court President Calls for More Judges -------------- New Angolan Naval and Air Force Chiefs -------------- -------------- Angola Provides the Budget for the Gulf of Guinea Commission -------------- -------------- ¶2. (U) On April 11, 2007, the GRA publicly announced that it had appropriated funding to cover the Gulf of Guinea Commission's 2007 budget. The GRA has provided the Commission with offices that will serve as the Commission's temporary Headquarters and five residences to accommodate its Commissioners. Angola originally offered to host the Commission during the Commission's Summit Meeting in Gabon in October 2006. Angola further offered to build the permanent Headquarters for the Commission in Luanda by next year (reftel notal). Secretary General Carlos Gomes (from Sao Tome) and Deputy Executive Secretary Amb. Florentina A. Ukonga (from Nigeria) are already present in Luanda, with other Commission executives expected to arrive shortly. -------------- -------------- Supreme Court President Reiterates Need for More Judges -------------- -------------- ¶3. (U) The President of the Supreme Court Cristiano Andre publicly reiterated the need to recruit more judges, stating that the justice system in Angola is hampered by the shortage of functioning courts. Angola currently has only 220 judges serving an estimated population of 15 million people. Judge Andre would like to see the immediate appointment at least 350 more judges to help alleviate the over- burdened caseloads in the few courts presently functioning. He cited the examples of Lunda Sul, a province with over 500,000 inhabitants and only four judges and of Uige Province, in which only one of the sixteen municipal courts holds sessions. Of the 21,098 cases brought to court in Luanda only 2130 were tried, equaling ten percent of the cases. -------------- New Angolan Naval and Air Force Chiefs -------------- ¶4. (SBU) On April 26, 2007, President Dos Santos appointed General Francisco Lopes Gongalves Afonso and Admiral Augusto da Silva Cunha as Chiefs of Air and Naval Staffs, respectively. He also appointed Generals Cristovco Miguel da Silva Junior and Domingos Adriano da Silva Neto as Deputy Chief of Staff and Vice Chief of Staff for the Air force, respectively. Admiral Francisco Jose is the new Vice Chief of Naval Staff. With these new appointees, President Dos Santos has now completed a cycle of appointments started in February 2006, in which he replaced all senior Military and Paramilitary leaders. Little biographic information is known on any of these men.