Unite for peace, church tells UNITA

Prominent Angolan cleric Reverend Daniel Ntoni-Nzinga has urged UNITA's leaders to resolve their differences so they can contribute "in a viable way" to the historic peace process under way in the country. "We recognise there are tensions, but they still have a chance to work them out. It is normal for people who have been away from each other for almost 10 years. They still have that golden opportunity to unite ... [and it is the] hope of all of us that the achievement of peace is not held hostage by tensions among themselves," Ntoni-Nzinga, executive secretary of the Inter-Ecclesiastical Committee for Peace in Angola (COIEPA), told IRIN. His comments came as reports emerged of divisions between UNITA military commanders, who last week formalised a ceasefire with government troops, and UNITA-Renovada. The latter split with late UNITA leader Jonas Savimbi and joined the Angolan parliament as an opposition party in 1998 when Savimbi decided to return to the bush to wage war. UNITA-Renovada President Eugenio Manuvakola said at a press conference on Tuesday that General Lukamba Gato, head of UNITA's management commission, was "arrogant and violent". He was quoted in Angop and Lusa reports as saying that the commission was illegal and that UNITA-Renovada would create a team to look at unifying UNITA's different factions. In the wake of Savimbi's death in combat on 22 February, Gato emerged as the leader of the rebel movement. He dispatched a team to negotiate a ceasefire with the Angolan Armed Forces (FAA) and heads UNITA's management commission charged with overseeing the party's internal reconciliation and preparation for a congress expected in four to six months' time. Gato seems to have secured the support of exiled UNITA representatives. However, Manuvakola told IRIN on Thursday that UNITA-Renovada wanted to hold talks with Gato's management commission in the next few days to discuss the "need for a transitional period where we need to establish a programme of leadership and the way forward for the party". "How will we lead the party, will they come from the bush and manage the peace process alone, or will we do it in a common programme?" he asked, saying that these were issues which needed resolution before UNITA could hold a congress. He said: "We can't allow those who led the party to catastrophe to come here and continue to lead the party without any consultation with the democratic wing of the party. "They [generals who fought alongside Savimbi] came from the bush, they committed a lot of mistakes, they abused human rights and they were defeated because of their mistakes. Their leadership must be questioned by UNITA members ... We advised them 10 years ago that a military programme for UNITA would be suicidal. They did not listen to the advice. They went to war and left thousands of people dead," he told IRIN. On Monday Gato was quoted in news reports as saying that there was only one UNITA - those who supported Savimbi through his commitment to the armed struggle. However, Manuvakola said: "We are still one party, but divided in terms of the leadership." He added that dialogue was necessary on the "methods of leadership". "We don't want to affect the process. We want the world to know that within UNITA there are those opposed to the "Savimbist" line, [those] who are the democratic wing of the party, and we want to be heard in the peace process. We don't want to be out of the peace process, [but] Savimbists still use undemocratic means to rule the party," he said. Ntoni-Nzinga, who met Gato and Manuvakola this week, said COIEPA would be meeting all stakeholders in the process in the near future. "The question now is not to emphasise the tension [within UNITA], but how we can assist them to be one political force again," he said. Meanwhile, it was reported this week that some UNITA military leaders had already been integrated into FAA and that the demobilisation process under way throughout the country was proceeding smoothly. About 50,000 soldiers are expected to be integrated into FAA or back into civilian life in the process. A joint commission set up to oversee the implementation of the ceasefire agreement said on Wednesday that rebel soldiers were heading to designated locales for disarming. "We are satisfied, because the process is unfolding without problems," AFP quoted FAA General Geraldo Nunda as saying. The report also quoted UNITA General Abreu Kamorteiro as saying that rebels "have already begun heading to temporary gathering points" set up in 12 provinces. In addition, national radio station RNA has reported that the government agreed on Wednesday to set up the National Reconstruction Service aimed at absorbing the large number of demobilised government army and UNITA troops. The demobilised troops would be used to repair roads, railways, and other infrastructure, in addition to conducting landmine clearing, the station reported.