António Bento Bembe said that, seeking rapprochement, he had a meeting with the former President of the Republic José Eduardo dos Santos, "insisting on the continuity of the implementation of the memorandum of understanding", and two others with the current head of State, João Lourenço.
"Unfortunately, things are not progressing, but we are not rested either and we always continue contacts, even drawing attention to our brothers, our friends, the Government, in quotation marks MPLA [Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola], about the consequences future of this abandonment of the Cabinda process", said António Bento Bembe in statements to Lusa.
The memorandum of understanding for peace in Cabinda was signed on August 1, 2006, in the province of Namibe, by António Bento Bembe, by the FCD, and by Virgílio de Fontes Pereira, at the time Minister of Territorial Administration, by the Government, later of one year of negotiations, in the presence of government officials, politicians, diplomats accredited in the Angolan capital, religious and traditional leaders, as well as representatives of civil society.
According to António Bento Bembe, "there has been no sincerity, good faith, on the Government's side", stressing that only one clause of the document has been fulfilled, referring to the integration of former FLEC guerrillas into the Government, the Angolan Armed Forces, the Police National and other State institutions.
António Bento Bembe, who was minister without portfolio, secretary of State for Human Rights, deputy to the National Assembly and member of the MPLA Central Committee, said that in 2006 Cabinda was granted a special status, due to its geographical specificities, to ensure the development of that oil province, located in the north of the country, without territorial contiguity with the rest of Angola.
"But we have not taken steps to implement this special status", lamented António Bento Bembe, a retired general, highlighting that the weak electoral results achieved by the MPLA, in the province of Cabinda, in 2022, are a consequence of this non-compliance.
According to the president of the FCD, "this is one of the consequences of the Government's bad faith, in taking the situation in the province of Cabinda seriously".
The province of Cabinda today, continued António Bento Bembe, "is going through difficult times from the point of view of its development".
"It is chaotic, it depends on thermal energy, it continues to pollute space, and it has its consequences. Agriculture and fishing activities in Cabinda are compromised, biodiversity is at risk of disappearing, the lakes have reduced flow, the mangroves little by little disappear. disappearing", he highlighted.
For António Bento Bembe, the province of Cabinda is without "real signs of progress" after the signing of the peace agreements, a situation that worries the FCD.
In his opinion, "the MPLA loses nothing" if it complies with the memorandum, "because it does not separate Cabinda from Angola". On the contrary, "it finds a convenient way of integrating into the national space", he highlighted.
"This is the culture of the MPLA, everything that does not serve its interests, may at first give the impression that it agrees, but at any moment it will present other behavior that is quite absurd, as you can see, very absurd and very inhumane", declared.
