Ofeibea Quist-Arcton
21 June 2002
(Page 2 of 3)
You know, since we became independent in 1975 from Portugal, there has never been a time when we sat down as Angolans and discussed our future, the nature of the society we wanted. And that, in my view, is a very, very, important task we have to deal with.
We have to determine what kind of Angola we want. Is it a country where some people can continue to feel that they are second-class citizens? Because this is how colonialism was. There was the elite that colonialism created which was the 'real' Angolan citizen of the colonial state. There was the rest of the nation which was there as the instrument of the state, but they were not part of the state. So this situation did not really change by the mere fact that independence was proclaimed and the flag was raised and all that. That did not change everything.
And the worst thing is that the people who have suffered the most from this war are the same people who, in the colonial state, were not necessarily 'citizens', citizens in the real sense of the people who make the nation, who create the nation, who create the life and enjoy the life. It never happened before.
So, what we have to do is to sit down and work through those issues and make sure that we agree on the nation we want to have, not just to have the name or flag of the nation, but the way we relate to each other as citizens of the same nation. It is important. So that is what we are calling the kind of society we want to have.
The kind of state we want to have… The colonial state, because it was the state of the Portuguese and not the state of the people of Angola, we were made to become Angolan, but we were never the state of that nation. Therefore all we had to do was to do what the Portuguese colonial state wanted us to do.
In those days, the governor was appointed in Portugal, and then when he came to Angola as the governor of the colonial state of Angola, he appointed the governors for the provinces. Now we still have practically the same thing, not that the Angolan president is appointed by Portugal, but the president is the only person who appoints the ministers, the governor and the governor appoints etc.
So are you saying power is too centralized?
Power coming from the top down does not make a state of the people, or the government, a government of the people, because it's important that the people move upwards, not individually. But the power must be passed on from the community to the leaders the community wants until it reaches the top level.
So this in itself is a new concept of power as far as Angola today is concerned. As far as Africa is concerned it's not a new concept. Because when you speak about the extended family in Africa, that is how it emerged. The head of this family, or the lineage or whatever you call it, it emerged that each group had a head who would emerge from another head and that's how it worked, so it's a new way of addressing our problems and of managing whatever tension or of resolving any conflict that may spring up as we live together.
What about the equitable distribution of Angola's potential resources and the country's wealth?
That is another important issue. Again I would go back to the model of the colonial state. The colonial state came to exploit the resources and take the product to their countries.
But the belligerents in the civil war in Angola have done pretty well about continuing that trend.
Yes, I must confess that there are groups of Angolans who have become very, very rich in the past twenty years and the question will remain for a long time about how it happened, because the majority has become very, very poor, poorer even than we were at independence from the colonial state.
These are serious questions we will have to address and they can only be addressed without creating new conflict if we do it within the kind of political set up that I'm talking about.
It is important that the resources are redistributed properly and that the people, especially in those in the regions that are mineral-rich -- our country is very rich, not just in minerals, but in land as well. It is especially in those places, where the people have lived there all these years, that they should see the benefit of what God has given us as a nation. This is not happening at the moment, because there is exploitation, but the results benefit more the elite, the small group that is managing the economy than the people as such.
So, this is a major issue we have to address in deciding what kind of society we want to have.
Coming to the issue of elections, you have said that Angola must not rush into them.
Yes, because in my view and it is the view of the civil society movement now, we have to agree on the kind of society we want to have, on the rules of the game and they should not just be established by the people competing for the election. That is like a tailor-made suit. They will make it the way they want it to be, and not the way it should be for everybody to be able to wear it.
So, we want to make sure that this time the rules of the game are established by the people and that politicians standing for election will abide by those rules. And we have the way to check them out when necessary.
You made a comment that made everyone laugh about politicians needing voter education more than the people!
Oh yes! In the case of Angola, the experience of 1992 of course it is also the case of many African countries but in the case of Angola, using that experience it is very clear that we have to concentrate education, political education, on the politicians themselves. We know that they do not all stand for the well being of the people. But, with this culture of the last 27 years where you get into a position, you get rich very quickly without knowing how it happened and other people watching what is happening it is important that we don't get political leaders who are there to enrich themselves, but who are there to serve the people.
I use the model, that someone wrote, that we want people who serve, not leaders who are served. We want leaders who serve and not the leaders who want to be served. For that very reason, it is important that they are educated before they get into the position and they have to comply with that.
Do you think that the voice of civil society in Angola is being heard -- by the leadership and by the Angolan people themselves?
Yes. I think they are hearing the voice of civil society and this is a very good development in our country. It didn't happen four years ago, but they are now listening. The only problem is, are they accepting what civil society is saying? That is still problematic, but it's going to come, because civil society has been weak for too long. Now we have to consolidate the capacity that civil society has acquired. That is the reason why we need to create the platform where the different groups of the civil society movement can speak together, in a united voice.
And what we agreed in our meeting last May is that we need to come up with a new strategy of alternatives. Very often you hear one group saying we can do it this way, another group saying we could do it that way. But now we want to see if the consensus-building process has been formalized so that, with this platform, we can speak together to say we agree on this issue and this is the best way to do it and how it can be done.
So what would be your common message?
The message at the moment is that it's absolutely important that the government, the politicians, the political class and society at large understand the need for security and stability in the country. We can no longer move away from this situation if we continue to be fragile in our thinking and in our approach to life.
Secondly, transformation has to be achieved. We have to go through the transformation process. Actually, I'm thinking that peace itself is about transformation, because the way I have to accept you is not just today, but as we go along. You are going through a growth process and I'm also going through a growth process and we have to continue to accept each other. So transformation has to be a permanent process.
At the same time, it is very important that there is participation. All the people have to get involved and that will be the best expression of the unity we all want for the country. This is the message we are taking to the government and the politicians.
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