President José Eduardo dos Santos' sacking of Prime Minister Marcolino Moco and his cabinet on 3 June is a belated attempt to rally his troops before they have to start doing business with Jonas Savimbi's political cadres in Luanda...
For a year after the Bicesse Accords in May 1991 the MPLA failed to meet the challenge of UNITA which lost the multiparty elections of September 1992 mainly because of Jonas Savimbi's arrogant and threatening campaign rather than the MPLA's merits...
But he is (like Jonas Savimbi) an Ovimbundu from the interior and his family lacks MPLA connections...
The oil companies helped bring in Washington lobbyists Black Manafort Stone and Kelly who have previously represented Jonas Savimbi and Mobutu Sese Seko...
Worried that instability in Cabinda could divert resources from its confrontation and negotiations with Jonas Savimbi's rebels the Luanda government has spent several months trying to make diplomatic headway over the oil-rich enclave...
