At 11:30 am, hundreds of people were already converging on the gathering place, Santa Ana cemetery, from where the march would leave at 1 pm towards Largo das Escolas to protest against hunger and poverty and in favor of democracy.
Despite the intense heat that was felt, the rhythm of the kuduro cheered the protesters who expressed their concerns through slogans on t-shirts and homemade posters reading "Hunger in Angola is real" and calling for the mobilization of mayors.
Some alluded to the post-electoral situation in Mozambique, warning "Today it's Frelimo, tomorrow it's the MPLA" (the two parties have been in power since the independence of their respective countries), amidst flags of various political formations, which stood out the red and green of UNITA, led by Adalberto Costa Júnior, also coordinator of the FPU.
Elda Eduardo dos Santos, leader of UNITA, was concerned about the hunger and extreme poverty of the people, lamenting that in such a rich country "the government continues to make the people suffer, not providing quality of life and basic conditions that are inalienable rights of the human person".
"Today we are here to say 'Enough!'. When the people rise up it means that we have to change and we have several examples out there, like Mozambique in which the people made the decision for change and that is the change we need", he highlighted.
Carlos Domingos, professor, highlighted that "the executive has already done a lot", but that hunger in Angola is still a reality.
"The government should be concerned with improving the basic food basket and giving a shopping card to the poor in order to maintain the economic and social well-being of Angolans," he said, criticizing the executive for being more concerned with his external image.
"And the international community also accepts this and does not try to intervene in the reality of Angolans, which is why we are here, with this loud voice for João Lourenço's government to urgently resolve the issue of hunger", appealed the professor.
Carlos Domingos also contested the invitation to the Argentina team for a friendly with Angola for spending "so many millions for two hours and leaving the people hungry".
"This is making us very angry", he reinforced, adding that he joined the cause "of those who don't work, who spend their lives eating from the trash and don't have a loaf of bread a day".
Street vendor (zungueira) Rosa Faustino stated that she joined the march because of hunger.
"The pans are screaming, we don't have food, the people are really hungry, they're screaming, rice has gone up, medicine in hospitals isn't even talked about. Life is very difficult, we can't buy the business in stores to support our children", she said.
The parade passed without incident until Largo das Escolas, the final point of the route.
