Adalberto Costa Júnior spoke to Lusa after being interviewed at "Conversas Economia 100 Makas" in Luanda, explaining that the decision of the party leadership, taken at the Standing Committee, remains unchanged.
"UNITA participated in a debate in the National Assembly where it came into contact with the refusal [to award] Jonas Savimbi, one of the recognised participants in the fight for independence. This issue effectively led to a meeting at the level of its leadership body, the Standing Committee, which analysed this position and did not change it."
According to the UNITA leader, "this condition of saying that one was president and, therefore, is recognised, and the other was not president and does not have the same recognition is unacceptable."
He added: "This is unacceptable. As a result, we have had many UNITA members refusing to receive these awards and there are no changes."
Adalberto Costa Júnior is one of the 670 personalities who are expected to be decorated on 18 and 19 July as part of Angola's 50th anniversary of independence, according to the list released by the Presidency of the Republic.
In addition to the president of UNITA, the list also includes names such as musicians Matias Damásio, Yuri da Cunha and Don Kikas; ministers Diamantino Azevedo (Mineral Resources, Oil and Gas) and José de Lima Massano (Economic Coordination); the attorney general of the Republic, Hélder Pitta Grós; the archbishops of Luanda and Lubango, Dom Filomeno Vieira Dias and Dom Gabriel Mbilingi; Rafael Savimbi, son of Jonas Savimbi; and musician Raul Indipwo, one half of the popular Duo Ouro Negro.
This will be the fourth round of awards, which are being awarded in several phases throughout 2025, culminating in November with the official celebrations of independence, proclaimed on 11 November 1975.
For the UNITA leader, the insistence on historical exclusions delegitimises the unity effort and he questioned why "we continue to want to exclude people", something he considers contrary to the unity and cohesion of the country.
Adalberto Costa Júnior was direct about his case: "I am the one who presides over the Standing Committee (the highest body between UNITA congresses). I do not believe that the country is thinking that the president of UNITA is going against a decision of the body he presides over."
Adalberto Costa Júnior's position joins that of other UNITA figures, such as Alcides Sakala and Isaías Samakuva, who also refused to be decorated, criticising the lack of inclusive recognition of Angola's history. Journalist and activist Rafael Marques also refused the distinction, lamenting that independence is being celebrated in the midst of a cholera epidemic.
