"There is this need to implement the participation of all citizens, that there is not just one group that thinks it is enlightened to take the country forward, we are seeing where we have come because of that", said this Wednesday the bishop of the diocese de Caxito, Maurício Camuto, at a press conference.
Alluding to the authorities that run the country, the Catholic bishop said that this "small group [of government officials] think they have all the solutions, as if they had a magic wand to solve everything."
"And we are seeing that they are not able to solve it", stressed the also secretary general of the Episcopal Conference of Angola and São Tomé (CEAST), having defended more space for citizens to participate in the life of the country.
"That everyone can participate and make their political, social, programmatic contribution so that we can help the country to get out of the situation it is in", he stressed.
Speaking at the press conference to launch the seventh edition of the Social Week, which takes place in Luanda between 19 and 21 July, in a partnership between CEAST and Mosaiko – Institute for Citizenship, the bishop considered the municipal process to be "urgent".
"So, it is important for this that we establish local authorities for local solutions and not wait for central decisions, which delays our country and throws us into the misery in which we find ourselves", he pointed out.
For the Angolan Catholic "it is urgent and necessary to implement the municipal process that can help us to get out of the doldrums in which we find ourselves".
Maurício Camuto also commented on the arguments about the lack of conditions in the municipalities for the implementation of municipalities, considering that "putting the plow before the horse" is being done.
"When we say that there are localities that do not have enough development to carry out autarchy, we are putting the plow before the horse, this argument does not apply", he observed.
He also expressed solidarity with the voices of civil society and political sectors that defend the materialization of the municipal elections in the country, referring that the hope of the municipalities was presented by the President of the Republic, João Lourenço.
With the rise of the current President of the Republic, João Lourenço, to power, the bishop pointed out, "this hope was given about the realization of the municipalities" but "so many years have gone by and until now the municipalities have not materialized", he criticized.
"There are many questions, which are normal, there are questions about alleged fear or risk of the party in power losing positions, that could be it, but there is also talk of incomplete legislation", he stressed.
The Catholic bishop also defended the need to "pressure" the legislators, the deputies, so that they can conclude the legislative package on the municipalities.
The law on the institutionalization of municipalities in Angola is the only piece of legislation on local power that has yet to be approved by parliament.
Municipalities will be one of the topics covered in this "Social Week", a space for debates on the socio-economic life of the country. This year the meeting takes place under the motto "Local Participation, Global Change".
