Fernando da Piedade Dias dos Santos made the clarifications during the debate on a vote of regret proposed by the parliamentary group of the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) over the incidents on January 30 in Cafunfo, in the province of Lunda Norte, which resulted in several deaths, injuries and arrests.
Four days later, five deputies of the parliamentary group of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) and two activists who had traveled to Cafunfo were prevented by the police from entering the town and continuing their mission, which aimed to hear the population on the issue, about which there are contradictory versions.
According to the president of the National Assembly, who after this impediment disclaimed any responsibility for the parliamentarians, there are distinct authorizations for deputies to move inside and outside the country, as well as to be able to carry out parliamentary activities and acts of control and inspection.
"Our regiment defines that the parliamentary delegations are designated by the president of the National Assembly and are constituted, by order of the president of the National Assembly, by deputies of all parties and coalitions of parties with seats in parliament, according to the principle of proportionality," he said.
"And I did not designate any parliamentary delegation to go to Cafunfo, so the UNITA deputies who went to Cafunfo went on a party mission," he added.
Fernando da Piedade Dias dos Santos stressed that "in such cases they should inform the President of the National Assembly.
"And I have not received any information, why", he questioned, noting that, on the 3rd of this month, he received, in the morning, a letter from the eight deputies not integrated in the parliamentary group of the Broad Convergence for the Salvation of Angola - Electoral Coalition (CASA-CE), requesting that a representative delegation of deputies be sent to Cafunfo.
"On the same day, in the afternoon, we received a letter from the UNITA parliamentary group, informing us that they had five deputies held up in Cafunfo," he said.
Given the disparate information they received from various sources, the president of the National Assembly continued, he decided to ask the executive for information about what was happening and what had happened in Cafunfo.
"Once this information was received, we dispatched this information and the letters that were sent by the eight deputies, by the parliamentary group of UNITA, to the second, first and tenth Specialized Working Commissions and competent in reason of the matter to give the due treatment", he stressed.
According to the president of the National Assembly, the referred commissions are working on the matter and, if they need clarifications, the protagonists will be called.
"I think we should wait for the commissions to conclude their work, which will naturally propose the acts that we should practice, so there is no point in continuing this debate without a basis of support, which will be provided to us by the result of the work of the commissions," he said.
The mining town of Cafunfo was the scene of incidents between police and people on January 30, resulting in an undetermined number of deaths and injuries.
On that day, according to the police, about 300 people linked to the Movement of the Portuguese Protectorate Lunda Tchokwe (MPPLT), which for years has defended the autonomy of that region, tried to invade a police station, forcing the forces of order to defend themselves, causing six deaths.
The police version is contradicted by the leaders of the MPPLT, opposition political parties and local civil society, who allege that it was an attempt of a demonstration, previously communicated to the authorities, and that the demonstrators were unarmed.
UNITA released a report from the five deputies of that party who went to Cafunfo, according to which at least 28 people died in a "barbaric, hideous and cold" way and 18 were injured.
In the document, which contradicts the version of an act of rebellion and speaks of a protest with 93 demonstrators, the UNITA deputies demanded "responsibility from the actors of the massacre.
The Political Bureau of the ruling MPLA party defended the actions of the state and criticized the position of political leaders and personalities from civil society and the church, who condemned the incidents.
The body stressed that the democratic opening since the election of the President in 2017 "is something that is here to stay," but maintained that the government has found that this greater freedom of the press, speech, assembly and demonstration, "is serving to promote disrespect for the Constitution and the law, national symbols, disrespect for the established authority, public assets and private property."
