The sobas (traditional authorities) met on Wednesday with government representatives and received guidelines to reassure the population.
"We were called by the government, there were twelve sobas and the meeting with the second secretary [of the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola party] was for us to make an appeal to the population to be reassured, after the incidents that took place," said Soba Gonçalves Daniel to Lusa.
About the events of Saturday, he says it was not possible to find out the number of dead and wounded because he did not witness the incidents, which occurred at 04:00, and lives far from the place.
"We didn't observe the dead," he said, pointing out that he never met Zecamutchima, the president of the Protectorate Movement Lunda Tchokwe, who the government holds responsible for the alleged "act of rebellion," which resulted in six deaths and several injured, including two members of the security forces, according to official figures.
The police version is contradicted by the popular and MPLT who claim that it was an attempt at a peaceful demonstration and estimate the number of deaths at two and a half dozen.
"They went to do these incidents, the population in general does not know [of the MPLT], if the population made demonstrations from the road, from the water, they wouldn't carry a machete or a hoe, or a pot of spell, if we want to make the march show these concerns, we'll go unarmed," says Gonçalves Daniel, alluding to the arsenal displayed by the police, which will have been seized from the demonstrators.
The soba also guarantees that it has transmitted the demands, the lack of water, schools, roads when it meets the government, with positive results.
But the response displeases some neighborhood residents who attend the interview and raise their voices, showing disagreement with the soba and dissatisfaction with the government action.
Afonso Muandumba, another of the sobas who attended the meeting, says that it is "the Congolese who are spoiling" the peace.
"People who have been through the war can already sleep at will. Now the others come? This movement, it's nothing, the Zecamutchima came from the Congo and is coming to deceive the others," criticizes Soba de Ngulue.
"If they wanted demands, they would go with the machete, they would go with the firearm, they would dismember the boss? - asks Afonso Muandumba.
The Lunda Tchokwe Protectorate Movement has been demanding the reinforcement of autonomy for the region, with great diamond riches, and the protest action of the past Saturday was the most recent sign of the discontent of the local population.
