Isaías Henriques Ngola Samakuva

UNITA leader Isaías Samakuva will continue to struggle to manage UNITA’s transition from defeated rebel movement to effective political party...

Expect more sniping at UNITA's lacklustre President Isaías Samakuva and more talk of the Luanda charmer Abel Chivukuvuku taking over...

Within UNITA party President Isaías Samakuva is thought of as honest but has not galvanised his defeated group into an organisation capable of challenging the MPLA which he criticises mildly for intimidation and violence against UNITA members in the provinces...

Isaías Samakuva UNITA's leader spent many years outside Angola and his movement needs to develop into a political party rather than a guerrilla group before it can challenge the ruling Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola...

The MPLA and UNITA (led by Brigadier Isaías Samakuva) have agreed that presidential parliamentary and local elections should be held all at once in late 2005 after a new constitution has been finalised and an electoral census organised...

The most likely new party president is UNITA's former Paris representative Isaias Samakuva who could attract some MPLA supporters too...

He said on 4 February that he was leaving the field open for two main challengers former Foreign Affairs Spokesman Abel Chivukuvuku and former Paris representative Isaias Samakuva who will battle it out at the UNITA party congress in May or June...

Gato's management commission has eleven members from UNITA's armed wing and two from overseas Isaías Samakuva from Paris and Ernesto Mulato formerly the Germany representative and (along with Chiwale) a survivor of the group that helped Savimbi to set up UNITA in 1966...

But really critical will be the reaction of former foreign affairs spokesman Abel Chivukuvuku and education secretary Jaka Jamba in Luanda and former military negotiator Brigadier Isaías Samakuva in Paris...

The most important is the unofficial Paris-based Brigadier Isaías Samakuva regarded as a principled and dignified UNITA stalwart though not exactly charismatic or a real leadership contender...