Peace ball in Angolan’s court - bishop

Angola would secure international support for peace initiatives if Angolans themselves came up with a workable plan, Zacarias Kamwenho, Bishop of Lubango and president of the Bishops Conference of Angola and Sao Tome, told IRIN on Tuesday.

Kamwenho said the international community recognised that civil society had changed, particularly with the emergence of the Inter-Ecclesial Committee for Peace in Angola (Coiepa), which has been pressuring warring parties to resume peace talks. “So the challenge is from our side, in a way, to present strategic projects which could truly benefit the people.”

Kamwenho was speaking on his return from Europe, where he met various senior officials in his capacity as a leading figure in the Angolan peace process. “First and foremost, we were invited by the German Episcopal Conference and it was the first step.

After this we went to Belgium, where we had talks with high-ranking officials of the European Union (EU) and Belgian institutions related to cooperation. In Paris we met (senior UNITA official) Isaias Samakuva, with whom we had talks about ... in particular the cease-fire,” he told IRIN.

Kamwenho said that Samakuva had underscored the need for a “bilateral and simultaneous” ceasefire between the rebel UNITA movement and the forces of the ruling MPLA party. The said the “obstructive conditions” both sides were placing on obtaining a ceasefire, and ultimately peace, could lead people to believe there would never be a ceasefire in Angola.

However, the church and civil society, he said, wanted more than just a “truce”. “We want a sustainable peace - a ceasefire that will lead to real peace,” he told IRIN. He said the EU had offered political and financial support for projects which would benefit civic society and that in the next few months various projects would be launched.