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Vol 63 No 15

Published 21st July 2022


Angola

Dos Santos haunts Lourenço's campaign

The death of the former President has triggered a wave of nostalgia and dissatisfaction that threatens the electoral prospects of his successor

The legal and reputational battle after the news on 8 July that President José Eduardo dos Santos had died in Barcelona following a stroke is damaging the ruling Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola (MPLA) ahead of elections on 24 August. Dos Santos's chosen successor and former Defence Minister João Lourenço was already pressured by the worsening economic conditions and his failure to break with much of the corruption of the past. His government had detained one of Dos Santos's sons and sanctioned other members of the family who were controlling hundreds of millions of dollars of investments internationally, but the campaign was dragging on and achieving few tangible results.

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