Luanda, Moxico, Benguela, Cuando-Cubango, Huambo, Cunene, Huíla, Lunda Sul, Lunda Norte, Zaire, Bengo, Malanje and Namibe are the thirteen provinces that joined the demonstration on the 17th, said this Monday the activist Dito From there, not to mention the other five.
Speaking this Monday, at a press conference to present the demonstration, Dito Dali, coordinator of the Laulenu Association, referred that the demonstration, called for next Saturday, "is peaceful and aims to demand rights".
"We do not agree with the approval of the proposed Law on Non-Governmental Organisations, this law, in addition to being anti-democratic, also aims to control and restrain the functioning and organization of NGOs", he referred to the activist.
The "regime wants to create agendas for the NGOs, which we do not agree with and we will fight until the end", he assured, noting that the other provinces have already sent their communications to the provincial governments and the government of Luanda will be sent this Monday.
The increase in the price of fuel, in order to sell street food and the proposal for a Law on Non-Governmental Organisations, approved in general by the Angolan parliament last May, are the motivations for the national demonstration.
The Government has decided, since the 2nd of June, to partially withdraw subsidies for gasoline, whose liter now costs 300 kwanzas against the previous 160 kwanzas, a situation that has given rise to several protests in Angola, including reports of deaths.
At this press conference, which took place in Luanda, activists and members of civil society presented a manifesto, in which they appealed for "social solidarity at a national level".
"On the 17th of June, Saturday, everyone, wherever we are, with whatever means we have, will fight for our right to a free, inclusive, fair and solidary society", refers in the document presented by the activist José Gomes Hata.
They also regret what they consider to be the injustice committed against "zungueiras" (street vendors), taxi drivers, teachers, doctors, media professionals and other workers whose rights are "systematically violated".
"By not producing citizenship, nor allowing its full development, the Angolan State is not, in reality, fulfilling its promises to build an independent, inclusive, fair society and with a future that is not one of the reproduction of underdevelopment", stresses the manifest.
Asked if they did not fear police repression, the organizers recalled that the right to demonstrate does not require authorization, but communication to the authorities, and they hope that the staff will have a "republican" posture.
Aléxia Gamito, representative of Associação Cívica Mudei and one of the signatories of the manifesto, hopes that the police "fulfill their role" in protecting the demonstrators.
"Because we're not going to the streets to destroy the state's assets or whatever, we're just going to demand rights," she noted.
Activists and members of civil society have called a national demonstration for June 17 to protest against rising fuel prices, the end of street vending and the proposed NGO law.
The issues, above all the increase in gasoline prices due to the partial withdrawal of fuel subsidies, have sparked, in recent days, protests and clashes with the police in several provinces, which resulted in at least five deaths and dozens of injuries and arrests.
A manifesto that is being published on the Facebook page of the civic organization Mudei calls for "social solidarity" and citizenship in the form of collective actions to combat the "injustices" that they consider to be affecting various classes.
"The zungueiras [street vendors] are prevented from zungaring, taxi drivers have not received the announced exemption from the increase in the price of gasoline (which will have an effect on the lives of all of us), teachers and doctors continue to have no response to their demands for For many years, media professionals have been subject to censorship and other types of pressure, workers have been prevented from exercising their right to strike and even police and law enforcement officials have received orders that put them between a rock and a hard place, forced to violate their oath to defend legality and democracy, for fear of losing their jobs", reads the manifesto.
The same note highlights the "humanitarian crisis on a national scale" pointing to the "omission" of the State "which resorts to repression and the explicit violation of fundamental rights when citizen voices are heard".
At issue is also the new regulation of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) which "in addition to being unconstitutional, will repress, asphyxiate and eventually extinguish the multiple civic organizations that, in Angola, work where the executive resigns from his responsibilities and obligations ", he refers.
"In the absence of a State, let us be society: we are going to fight for all and for all, in the streets, with horns, with posters, with music, with peace, but firm in the defense of our rights", calls for the manifesto.
The appeal has also been publicized by the activist Gangsta, who has actively shared the call for action on his social networks, asking for everyone's involvement. millions of Angolans on the street" to "stop the abuses of João Lourenço".
The manifesto on the national demonstration of June 17th is signed by 16 civic organizations across the country and by 46 activists and members of civil society.
