The news, advanced by the Portuguese newspaper Jornal de Negócios, may weaken the current crusade to fight corruption by the President of the Republic. Reactions were not made to wait.
The president of the Associação Angolana Mãos Livres, Salvador Freire, and the Angolan politologist Olívio Nkilumbo considered that the appointment of the daughter of the President of the Republic to a public office "weakens the actions to fight corruption and nepotism".
For the leader of Mãos Livres, a non-governmental organization (NGO) for the promotion of human rights, the appointment of Cristina Dias Lourenço to the position of administrator of the Angolan Debt and Values Exchange (Bodiva) constitutes an act of nepotism.
"This is configured as nepotism, so in no way can the President of the Republic's daughter occupy responsibility that she currently occupies, this in addition to nepotism is influence peddling, this causes her to be pinching good governance, transparency", said Salvador Freire, speaking to Lusa.
In order no. 2260/20, of 5 May, the Ministry of Finance confirmed the dismissal of Cristina Lourenço, where she is a 2nd class senior technician, to manage the Finance and Heritage and Communication and Exchange departments.
According to lawyer Salvador Freire, the appointment of the President's daughter to the position affects the principles of good governance and transparency that the Government and society preach daily.
"So this is not good for governance, it is not good for society and they are examples that should be banned," he said.
The fight against corruption, flattery and nepotism are the axes of governance of João Lourenço, in power for three years.
According to the NGO official, who does not question the technical and professional skills of the head of state's daughter, the measure weakens the process underway in the country.
"If we are fighting nepotism, influence peddling and corruption, there can be no examples of a governance structure that effectively demonstrates that the children of certain leaders of the country occupy positions without competing," he noted. "Citizens must compete for positions on an equal basis," he said.
Freire's opinion converges with that of the politologist Olívio Nkilumbo, stating that the appointment of people close to certain political positions "is a very common practice" within the MPLA (Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola).
"And it is an evil that he [Angolan President] fought in the not too distant past, where he made harsh criticisms at the level of his party of some actions taken by the former President in naming children or people with close proximity to the family", he told Lusa .
For this political analyst, the appointment of Cristina Dias Lourenço to Bodiva, "jeopardizes some aspects related to other actors that more or less competent could also be on an equal footing to compete for these positions".
Although she was not appointed by the President of the Republic, but by the Minister of Finance, "who understood that the young woman has technical and professional qualities to exercise this position", she observes, the "problem lies in the fact that the person is the daughter of João Lourenço ".
According to the politologist, João Lourenço's daughter "will be in this way to control" the privatization process of companies and public assets through Bodiva.
"If you want to control the privatization process in this way, it is because you want to have people close to the President, soon we can be here before a new primitive accumulation of capital where people close to the President will control complex and strategic processes for the coming times" , concluded.
Previously, Cristina Giovanna Dias Lourenço was Deputy Director-General of the Technical Unit for Monitoring External Financing Projects at the Ministry of Finance. João Lourenço's daughter had already been at Bodiva in 2014, currently working as a market analyst.
Cristina Lourenço has a degree in Management from the London School of Economics and Political Sciences, London, in 2012, having completed her Master's in Investment Management, from Pace University, Lubin School of Business, New York.
