Traditional leaders want more say in reconciliation

National reconciliation in Angola should not just involve the MPLA government and the UNITA rebel movement, the war-torn country’s traditional authorities said in Luanda on Thursday. In a statement released at the close of a national meeting of traditional authorities, the leaders said that “any attempt to achieve peace cannot be made in a closed door meeting with the president of Angola and the leader of UNITA”, a Lusa report said. The ‘kings’, ‘sobas’ and other leaders of Angola’s many ethnic communities said there was a need for a “bilateral ceasefire throughout national territory, to facilitate the circulation of people and goods”. According to the report, they also demanded to be represented in peace negotiations, emphasising that “this time, the OAU (Organisation for African Unity), the UN, America, Soviets and Portuguese should not be the only mediators for peace in Angola”. The statement also said traditional authorities should be represented in the national parliament and called for “effective decentralisation of powers at the local, provincial and central level”. Three leading signatories to the final statement were the kings Ekuikui IV of Bailundo, Muana-Uta of Uige and Muatchissengue of Lunda-Kokwe, the report said.