Speaking to Lusa, the activist and researcher, responsible for the Maka Angola website and now in charge of UFOLO - Center for Studies for Good Governance, stressed that similar days had been held in Huíla and Benguela and had foreseen the same initiative in the Lundas.
"It ended up being postponed for several reasons and these events led us to hold [the days] precisely in Cafunfo, so that we can, with all the stakeholders, ensure that situations like this do not happen again. Violence has been systemic in that region, it is necessary to debate why and find definitive solutions so that these cases do not happen again ", he affirmed.
In addition to Cafunfo, Ufolo will be in the villages of N'zagi and Lucapa, also in Lunda Norte, which share the absence of political-administrative definition, something that the days, which will take place next week, also intend to discuss.
"Cafunfo until today does not have a political-administrative statute, it is not considered a district, commune or municipality", noted Rafael Marques, stressing that this is one of the issues to be addressed, along with the violence.
For the first time, he underlined, "we have the opportunity to be on the ground together with the authorities, with the communities, to discuss a solution about systemic violence, about the problems of poverty and why people, in a land so rich in diamonds , are so poor, and how can people be guaranteed to reap benefits from the natural wealth that the region contains.
For Rafael Marques, this possibility of being "all together to discuss the problems" is what has always been lacking and what will make the difference in these days.
Rafael Marques, author of the book "Diamantes de Sangue", the result of years of research on human rights abuses practiced in Lunda Norte by the armed forces and private security companies, has continued the work he has been developing since 2004, producing other reports that focus on the same theme.
The activist told Lusa that he is also investigating the events of 30 January.
"I am preparing a report and as an investigator I will report the facts that come to my knowledge", affirmed Rafael Marques, refusing to express an opinion on the contradictory versions and promising to pronounce himself as soon as the report has been prepared, which will be known public.
Asked if the declarations of the President of the Republic, João Lourenço, who spoke on the subject for the first time on Tuesday, were late, Rafael Marques considered that the choice of the moment to pronounce "is something that belongs to his office".
The citizenship and public security days are held in partnership with the general command of the National Police, who will be represented by the Deputy Director of the Police Practice School, so that it is possible to "work with the public order authorities in order to guarantee the maximum respect for the right to life and human rights ".
He added that "one cannot talk about peace and public order without talking to the police", being essential that "there is this willingness to sit down with civil society to discuss the issues" that are at the origin of the permanent tension that occurs in the region.
Representatives of the state diamond company Endiama and the Sociedade Mineira do Cuango, a diamond mining consortium in the region, local authorities, including the municipal administrator and the governor of Lunda Norte, Ernesto Muangala, members of the executive, family members of victims and civil society will also be present. and churches.
"It will be a discussion as open and comprehensive as possible", he stressed.
The days start on the 9th of March and end on the following day.
