"The same commitment with which we showed in the fight against corruption at the beginning of our mandate, this commitment remains. Nothing has changed", said the head of state, in an interview with the France24 channel, quoted by Jornal de Angola.
Speaking from London, João Lourenço also stressed that corruption "is only being fought now", adding that there was a replacement of the old system, since "the current system is to combat corruption".
"He talks about replacing the previous system. The current system is to combat corruption. Therefore, he says it well: it really is a replacement! It is not a continuity, it is a replacement. We replaced what was considered normal, for something that was not normal at the time, which was to fight corruption. Corruption was never fought!", said João Lourenço, in an interview with France24.
And he added: "Corruption is only being fought now in my mandate. The justice bodies have never had so much work to deal with this specific type of crime. In all countries there are 'n' types of crimes, but the justice bodies in Angola: PGR, courts of all categories, at all levels, have never been so dedicated to dealing with anti-corruption cases as they are now in my mandate".
He reiterated that "what happened was, in fact, a replacement and not a continuity", further underlining that "the new system is to fight corruption, the before was to promote corruption".
When asked about the specific case of Isabel dos Santos, the President of the Republic referred to France24 that the case is in the hands of Interpol: "Regarding this specific case, the matter is handed over to Interpol. We trust that Interpol will fulfill its role and we do not want, in principle, to interfere".
Still on the fact that the dos Santos family indicates that this is not an investigation, but a political persecution, the President said that the businesswoman "has accounts to settle before justice and it is with justice that she must defend herself". "It is often said that 'those who should not fear'. They should answer to justice and claim what they want in justice and not in the media", he added.
In the interview with France24 channel – quoted by Jornal de Angola – the President 'kicked' the answer to the possibility of running for a third term closer to the next elections, stressing that nothing justifies a coup d'état.
"There is no reason to justify a coup d'état. Absolutely none. Therefore, if someone is not governing well, voters should punish him at the polls. the country in the years following the elections, if it is not governing well, it will be penalized", he indicated, reiterating: "I repeat and would like to underline that nothing justifies, absolutely nothing, no argument can arise in favor of the need to give a coup d'état. In the specific case of Angola, I think it is too early to talk about it. We have just left the elections now. The next ones will be in 2027. My answer is given, maybe we can talk about it later in 2027" .
Issues related to foreign policy were also part of the France24 interview, including the conflict in Sudan, with the head of state saying that they are "everyone very concerned about the situation that has arisen very suddenly in Sudan".
"Apparently, everything seemed to be going well, but unfortunately, all of a sudden, this military confrontation arose between two generals, one of which is General Abdel Fatah, President of the Sovereign Council, with whom I spoke, being already here in London", he said, adding that "the conversation was good" and that the general "appreciated the fact that everyone" was "concerned with wanting to find a negotiated solution to the conflict, which is the only way out".
João Lourenço – in an interview with France24 channel, quoted by Jornal de Angola – also said that "no one is sitting idly by" and that efforts are being made to achieve peace in that country.
"There is no lack of efforts in this regard, we are all working hard. No one is sitting idly by. (...) Sudan is a Member State of the International Conference of the Great Lakes Region, which is why I took the trouble to speak with President Abdel Al Fatah," he said.
"I also know that both the president of the African Union Commission and the acting president of the African Union, the President of Comoros, have all been doing their best to put the two generals in touch to negotiate peace. Therefore, it is not for lack of will or interest in seeing this situation resolved. This interest exists, but peace is not something that can be negotiated in a day either. It takes time, unfortunately", he added, in statements to the France24 channel, cited by Jornal de Angola.
The situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) was also another topic discussed. On this matter, João Lourenço ruled out the possibility of a war breaking out between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda: "I think that this will not happen, at least as far as it depends on us, we will do everything to prevent it from reaching this situation of direct confrontation between the two neighboring countries, the DRC and Rwanda", he told France24.
Furthermore, he also condemned coups d'état, stating that Africa needs to fight against this trend: "It is obvious that coups d'état are condemnable. happening in an increasing number, in a very well identified region, in West Africa, where at least three countries have already been victims of this phenomenon: Burkina Faso, Mali and Guinea. The continent has to fight against this tendency that seems to be to come back".
Among other subjects, the conflict in Ukraine was also present in the interview. "Angola's position in this conflict that opposes Russia to Ukraine is that the world must do everything to guarantee, respect, both the sovereignty and the territorial integrity of the countries. These are two categories that must be considered sacred, since the Charter of the United Nations defines it that way. International Law defines that the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the countries must be respected", said João Lourenço, adding: "In the case of this conflict, it is evident that the sovereignty and integrity territory of Ukraine was violated, it was not respected by the neighboring country, which is Russia and we cannot agree with that".
In an interview with the France24 channel, the head of state also considered that "the whole world is paying the consequences of this war", since this conflict "has caused several crises".
"A security crisis, a humanitarian crisis, a financial crisis, a food crisis and an energy crisis. Therefore, a succession of crises that are not limited to Europe's borders. The whole world is feeling, hard, the consequences of this war", he indicated, adding that this is one of "the reasons why everyone is calling for a ceasefire to be reached as soon as possible".
