"The awards without public tender and through simplified contracts have been signed by the holder of the executive power in a rush and at a frenetic pace", stated Adalberto Costa Júnior at the opening of the Parliamentary Conference of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), in Cabinda.
Costa Júnior, who has repeatedly criticized simplified and/or non-tendering contracts in the country (granted by presidential decrees), noted that the equivalent of 32.7 billion dollars was spent on simplified contracts from 2018 to December 2024. "A very high amount of public money without tendering," the politician noted, lamenting that major public works and contracts generally end up tainted by cartel processes and vices.
According to the UNITA leader, from "marginal" processes to genuine public procurement standards "new millionaires and new monopolies are being born", considering that such a phenomenon reflects "corruption installed in new forms and methods".
"Due to these bad practices, the wealth of Angola, and Cabinda in particular, has little impact on the conditions of the population," he criticized during his speech, arguing that the country needs "urgent reforms."
The parliamentary sessions, which run until Sunday in that province in the north of Angola, also provide an opportunity for UNITA deputies to take stock of the impact of the 50 years of MPLA rule (in power since the country's independence in 1975) on the lives of the people of Cabinda, he pointed out.
Stating that Cabinda "is a land that produces oil and many other riches, but is not happy", the UNITA leader appealed to his party's deputies to reevaluate the status of this province from the perspective of local power.
Adalberto Costa Júnior said that UNITA defends the implementation of local authorities throughout the country, a desideratum of constitutional participatory democracy, "which only does not come to fruition due to the lack of political will of the regime in power".
"I believe that the 'Mbinda' people [as the natives of Cabinda are also called] effectively want the institutionalization of local power with a view to resolving their specific problems," he said.
The deputy of the National Assembly also defended the "absolute need for (...) urgent reforms" in the country.
"Only with reforms that help build a democratic and legal state will we be able to achieve happiness for all Angolans," he declared.
For the UNITA leader, "the effective institutionalization of local authorities is a priority within the framework of reforms", along with the "depoliticization of public institutions and the independence of the judiciary", calling for full participation of civil society to achieve the reforms.
Cabinda, a province rich in oil resources and with an independence movement demanding autonomy for the region, is hosting UNITA's events under the motto "For Local Autonomy, Serving the Citizen".
