President Dos Santos pays homage to all Angolais which contributed to peace

Long live the people of Angola!
From Cabinda to Cunene,
One people, one nation!
Long live the people of Huila!
Long live the people of Matala!
Long live the people of Capelongo!
Thank you very much.

My dear friends and compatriots,

First of all, i wish to transmit to you all the warm greetings from the delegation accompanying me and from myself.

I hope you are all in good health and that you are all ready for the challenges facing us ahead.

I know that you have been here for a long time waiting for us, in the sun. Yet, only a few of you have gone away, on the contrary, I can see other people coming to join the crowd.

We thank you for this warm reception, a warm reception, very friendly. This is a proof that you keep sticking together, supporting the Government of the Republic at this stage that our country is at peace and we all need to work to improve the living standards in our country.

We have come to visit this province a few days after the end of the tasks of the Joint Commission for the peace process, a process which started in 1991, that met difficulties after the elections and took us to the Lusaka Protocol, in November 1994.

It was a happy coincidence. Eight years later, on the same date, 20 November, the tasks have been completed, the Commission has been dissolved and we have definitive peace in Angola.

My dear friends and compatriots, I think that in this first address of mine, after such a great event, it is my duty to pay my profound tribute to all those who cannot be here with us, those who sacrificed and even gave their lives generously in order that our country could remain wholly intact, that today we could have peace and share a brotherly dream of having a united Angola, moving towards progress.

Therefore, to our heroes, to our martyrs in the struggle for independence, for peace, in the defence of democracy, our profound respect and honour.

Our gratitude also goes to all the people of Angola, who have suffered immensely, but never stopped supporting the government as well as the programmes that I outlined myself throughout these years. Our people was able to understand not only the difficulties but also our shortcomings.

To our old people , traditional authorities, whom I have contacted in several parts of the national territory; they always gave us a lot of advice that encouraged us to persist in the struggle for peace and liberty our people. To all those individuals who belong to political parties and civic associations which were involved in this struggle, I wish, on behalf of the Government, to express our deepest gratitude.

Well, now, this new page that we have just opened in our history imposes on us great responsibilities. For the first time, in the history of our people, we have a government with stable conditions to rule.

The people of Angola elected, in 1992, the MPLA to form the government and lead Angola. MPLA made some political concessions and integrated in their government several parties with a seat in the parliament; we now have a government of unity and national reconciliation.

In the past the war would stop us from moving about, from working and from building Angola, today we have peace, we have stability, therefore, we need more work and more discipline; we do not have anymore reasons for not starting to resolve our problems and MPLA, being the majority that I represent in the government, is conscious of that responsibility. This is the first time that conditions are created for them to govern.

So, leading this government of unity and national reconciliation, we have visited several provinces where we have had government meetings.

We have been to several provincial capitals. This time we are having the meeting in Matala, and we came here, to the commune of Capelongo, to let you know that we are ready; we have already pulled up our sleeves, we are on the ground, we want to improve...(applause), we are now on the ground.

What have we seen here, in Matala municipality and in Capelongo commune? A lot of work done, good work, my congratulations to you all.

Our canal was full of grass, but now it is clean; before, we were unable to use the water to irrigate the fields and cultivate them, now the water is reaching the cultivated fields through a modern system of irrigation, some peasants and farmers are already growing food, and in the future, we expect to rehabilitate the industrial sector in order to transform the agricultural products that will be cultivated here.

This here is an example that we will take to the whole country, work, work, and more work; discipline, discipline, and more discipline as well as strictness in the way we use public money and other public properties.

Our leaders, whether at the level of ministers, whether at the level of provincial governors or administrators, must all be conscious of the fact that times have changed.

Whomsoever is trusted a task must first be able to execute, must be able to take care of all material, technical and financial resources put at their disposal to execute the programmes because, when you speak of transparency, that is what transparency is, to execute your tasks in such a way that at any time the supervisor can come to check and find out how things are going, an inspector may come to look at your accounts and if they are not right, then you must pay.

This is a new era, today we have our audit court, it is a tribunal that will supervise the State accounts to check whether they are right or not so that they can be approved by the parliament.

And the people of Angola will be watchful. It is clear that they will not elect tomorrow again a government that cannot be accountable, cannot work well and unable to take charge of public affairs. That is why I am uttering these words, so that those holding public posts may understand that now the situation is different, we have to act too with a greater sense of responsibility.

If it is true that the leaders must assume their duties, then it is also true that citizens, workers, peasants and skilled staff in general must equally play their part (the people shout in support). Do we agree on that? Shall we work? (the people shout 'yes'). Are you going to take up your responsibilities?(they shout 'yes' again); then, we are together, we are determined.

Comrades, compatriots, I know that you have been here, in the sun, for quite a long time. Today, our Parliament has received the government's programme and budget for next year. The work that we are doing here, in the province of Huila, does not solely include programmes for this province, but also for Cunene, Namibe, Kuando Kubango and Cabinda, which will be integrated into the same programme of the central government and into the State budget through which we shall all give account for, in the future. This programme is to start being executed in January 2003 and should last for two years, 2003/2004.

One of the important aspects of this programme is to install the State administration in the whole national territory and the installing of the administration throughout the national territory is important not only because it will allow the administrators to manage the different localities and ensure the execution of government programmes on that level, but also, and specially at this stage, to organise the population census, particularly the voters registration.

In their turn, the government, the parliament and the various political parties will look into the question of updating the electoral law.

We will need to make an assessment at the end of 2003 or, eventually, at the beginning of 2004, in order to see whether we have the ideal conditions to hold elections.

The next elections must take place in a climate of security, that is, political stability, in a situation where Angolans, specially those displaced, demobilised, those at the sheltering camps and refugees, can return to their destination points and re-organise their lives, so that when time comes for them to be called to choose their leaders, they can all make it in tranquillity, without harassment, without coercion and, perhaps, without hunger, because, when one is hungry one cannot think properly.

So, there has been much talking about elections in our country. We have been saying that if those conditions are in place by 2004, we shall then decide by consensus to hold the elections in 2004, but this is a decision that should not be made hastily. National interest comes first, we need to pacify, stabilise, normalise our citizen's lives, then, in tranquility, they will be able to choose their leaders.

On the other hand, we have several political parties in our country. The political parties should work in the sense of supporting the effort for national pacification and stabilisation.

Of course, everyone will be free to choose their party, but it is necessary that each one can choose their party and can carry out their party activities in any part of our national territory. No one should be afraid of competition, political and party dispute. Our great master will always be the people. It will be You, it is You who in future shall have to choose the leaders.

So far you have chosen well, I wonder why you would choose badly in the future.

Therefore, my friends and compatriots, It is to sunny. I am thankful for your being here with much patience to listen to my words, I have listened to your messages attentively too, they are recorded; I wish you all good health and happiness; we are together.

Long live the people of Capelongo!
Long live the people of Capelongo!
From Cabinda to Cunene
One people, one nation!
The struggle continues,
The struggle continues, not meaning war, the struggle continues towards the improvement of the living standards of our people.

Victory is certain.