Officers warn of discontent

Angolan army officers have reportedly warned President Jose Eduardo dos Santos of serious discontent as troops go hungry and even naked while allocated funds are missing. Portugal’s daily newspaper, ‘Publico’ said on Tuesday that a dozen army officers, including generals, sent a letter to Dos Santos protesting about the mismanagement of public funds allocated for the armed forces. “Young soldiers are hungry, going naked or have no boots and are being driven to quit their units,” said the letter. “The government’s economic and financial plan has allocated a large sum to the defence and security bodies, but where has this money gone?” The officers, added the report, also complained that they had themselves been “thrown into the reserve forces, left to fend for ourselves, with no status to protect our position”.