Washington, DC — A key member of a breakaway faction of the Angolan Unita movement says talks between Unita's military commanders and the government are Angola's best chance for settling the 27-year civil war. "It is these two sides that will end the war and bring peace," says Dinho Chingunji, Washington, DC, spokesman for 'Unita Renovada' (Unita Renewed).
Unita Renovada was formed in September 1998 by Eugenio N'Golo Manuvakola, once secretary-general of Unita, and other dissidents who had fallen out with Unita President, Jonas Savimbi. The new group pledged to transform Unita from a guerrilla group to a civil democratic party in accordance with the Lusaka Protocol.
Savimbi's death sparked talks between the government and Unita guerillas captured during military operations that began last Wednesday. Among key Unita leaders are Unita Secretary-General Paulo Lukamba "Gato", Information Secretary Marcial Dachala and Unita's Secretary of External Relations, Alcides Sakala as well as Unita Chief of Staff Geraldo Abreu Muengo Uatchitembo "Kamorteiro".
In an allAfrica.com report, published Tuesday, Unita's Washington, D.C. representative Jardo Muekalia said negotiations between the government and these leaders were being conducted "under duress" and lacked legitimacy and that missions representing Unita abroad should lead negotiations. But reacting, Dinho Chingunji said, "Unita has never been led from abroad."
Unita's external mission should not inflate its importance, says Chingunji. Before Savimbi's death, Unita's external mission encouraged continuation of the military option, he charged. "They did not use their staying abroad to influence the world and persuade Savimbi to accept ending the war and embrace democracy."
It is "impossible" for Unita's external leadership to negotiate an end to Angola's long war, he says; "If there is no contact with members of Unita in the bush it is absurd for the so-called external mission to claim leadership... Unita members in the bush, and the [MPLA] government[in Luanda] are the people in Angola on the ground."
Yet important components of any Angolan peace process will be shaped externally. Tuesday, the United Nations representative to Angola, Mussagy Jeichandy, said that the UN will get involved in Angola's peace process soon after a general ceasefire accord is signed, As reported by the Angolan news agency Angop, Jeichandy said that while the Lusaka protocol signed on November 20, 1994 by both the government and Unita will guide the peace process in Angola, the UN and the existing troika of observers (Portugal, Russia and United States) are expected to play a mediating role.
The complicated political landscape still keeps many observers and analysts uncertain as to how peace will take shape in Angola. In addition to Unita Renovada and Savimbi's Unita, the external Unita representatives and many of the 70 Unita parliament members in Luanda operate almost as independent entities.
Additionally, not all of Savimbi's guerilla cadres are involved in the Luena ceasefire talks taking place some 770 km east of Luanda, a point made by Rev. Daniel Ntoni Nzinga, co-ordinator of the Angolan Group for Reflection on Peace (GARP), in Luanda. "There are so many [guerilla] groups around the country and they are not all controlled [by the Unita leaders talking in Luena]."
Chingunji predicts there will be a Unita congress within a year and that it will reunite the fractured movement. Savimbi's death during fierce fighting in eastern Angola last month, creates the opportunity, says Chingunji. "All different [Unita] elements want it [the congress]."
Reverend Nzinga described himself as "optimistic in the sense that an end of the [long] armed conflict is in sight." His view matches what appears to be an emerging consensus. Savimbi's death has created Angola's best opportunity for peace as rival factions agree. "The war is over!" declares Chingunji. There is "no chance" Unita will return to war, says Muekalia.
However, cautions Reverend Nzinga, "when we talk about peace, we're not just talking about silencing the guns." Angolan civil society has not yet been brought into the peace dialogue, he says. Nzinga believes the Luena discussions, where he hopes Unita and the government will agree on the terms of a ceasefire, are just the first step. "Once a ceasefire has been agreed, talks on ending our conflict have to involve civil society - have to involve all the people," he says.
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And that is a commitment that members of Angolan civil society are still waiting to get from the United Nations, Rafael Marques, representative of the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa in Angola, told a conference in South Africa on Tuesday. "[The UN] has not helped to create an environment for Angolans to come together, nor has it supported Angolan civil society to express their concerns to the Security Council."
In the end, to secure peace, "new conditions have to be created," says Reverend Nzinga. "Relations between Angolans have to be restructured and the government must understand that although it is a driving force in the process, it can't make it [peace] happen by itself."
