Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09LUANDA781
2009-12-22 10:40:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Luanda
Cable title:  

GOVERANCE NOTE: ANGOLA'S VICE MINISTERS

Tags:  PGOV PHUM KDEM AO 
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VZCZCXRO2697
PP RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHLU #0781 3561040
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 221040Z DEC 09
FM AMEMBASSY LUANDA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5865
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE
C O N F I D E N T I A L LUANDA 000781 

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/22/2019
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM AO
SUBJECT: GOVERANCE NOTE: ANGOLA'S VICE MINISTERS

(U) Classified by CDA Jeff Hawkins, Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L LUANDA 000781

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/22/2019
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM AO
SUBJECT: GOVERANCE NOTE: ANGOLA'S VICE MINISTERS

(U) Classified by CDA Jeff Hawkins, Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) Angolan cabinet ministers are seconded by a small
group of vice ministers, usually two or three, and these
senior officials are frequently our counterparts in Embassy
dealings with GRA ministries. In a wide-ranging discussion
with DCM, Vice Minister of Interior Jose Bamoquina Zau
offered insights into the career path and politics of the men
and women that are the future of Angolan governance.


2. (C) Vice ministers, Zau said, represent an important pool
of senior officials from which the president can choose new
ministers, governors, and ambassadors, and Zau maintained
that a group of 35-45 year old up-and-comers among the vice
ministerial ranks represents the next generation of Angolan
leaders. Some vice ministers are technocrats and have come
up through their ministries. For example, Zau noted that
traditionally most vice ministers at the Ministry of Interior
come from police or military backgrounds. However,
throughout the government, potential vice ministers must have
strong MPLA credentials to win nomination. Indeed, party
ties can sometimes create serious distortions in the normal
government chain of command; Zau cited the example of a vice
minister who concurrently held a slot in the MPLA's Political
Bureau, which made him considerably more influential and
powerful than his minister.


3. (C) In earlier years, there were a handful of vice
ministers who had entered government through political
reconciliation efforts with UNITA or Cabinda-based groups.
Zau said the GRA had been open to coopting particularly
effective opposition members. He noted that Vice Minister of
External Relations George Chicoti was one such official;
Chicoti had been brought into the GRA as a UNITA candidate
but had been so effective that he had been convinced to join
the MPLA and was made a vice minister under MPLA auspices.


4. (C) Key to the futures of each vice minister is a
relationship with the president. For many, Zau said, this
can be a challenge, as their access to the president passes
through their minister, who can potentially see them as
rivals. Success in attracting presidential favor is often a
result of skillful handling of a particular dossier or event
of importance to Dos Santos. Some vice ministers have
special access to the president, said Zau. The vice minister
of interior that heads Angola's domestic security service -
SINFO - for obvious reasons has a direct line to the
president. Similarly, a vice minister in the Ministry of
Public Works who holds a concurrent position in the
president's military office - which handles certain sensitive
reconstruction efforts and is headed by the powerful General
Kopelipa - has special access as well, according to Zau.


5. (C) Comment. Post's working relationships with vice
ministers across several ministries confirms Zau's
observations that there are many capable up-and-comers, some
of whom have a much better grasp of the portfolio than their
ministers. However, even in some of the key line ministries,
like MIREX, the bench does not go much deeper than the vice
ministerial level. This sad fact significantly complicates
the GRA's efforts to properly let and monitor reconstruction
contracts, for example, and often hampers Post's ability to
engage effectively with the GRA. End Comment.
HAWKINS