João Lourenço, who was addressing the members of the Council of the Republic, who met this Wednesday with the topic of food security in the spotlight, spoke about the historic milestone of Angola's 50th anniversary of independence, which will be celebrated next year, which allowed Angolans to be “masters of their own destiny”.
"[Independence represented] the definitive end of colonialism, slavery, racism and all types of discrimination to which we were subjected for five centuries, it put an end to the plundering of our resources and represented the conquest of freedom, but above all of our dignity as human beings, equal to those who considered themselves superior to us”.
"We fought and won, today we are masters of our own destiny”, said the head of state, attributing the war that followed - which pitted the government forces of the MPLA (Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola) against Jonas Savimbi's UNITA (National Union for the Total Independence of Angola) - to external forces.
“During these 50 years we have had a long conflict fomented by them in a vain attempt to reverse the course of history”, he stressed, stating that it was with “much sacrifice, but also wisdom” that Angolans put an end to 27 long years of external invasions and internal conflicts.
“We have achieved peace and are building a homeland of reconciled brothers who have known how to forgive each other so that together we can build a prosperous and developed Angola for the well-being of its citizens”, stressed the Angolan head of government.
Angola lived for several decades at war, first against the Portuguese colonial regime, between 1961 and 1974, and since 1975 in a civil war, which ended in 2002, with the death of Jonas Savimbi.
João Lourenço highlighted that there are “enough reasons to celebrate in style” the 50 years of independence, which will be celebrated on November 11, 2025, and stated that the program of celebrations includes political, cultural, religious activities, fairs and exhibitions, inaugurations of public and private enterprises, urging the participation of all civil society.
