Angola’s President Joao Lourenco took the oath of office on Thursday for a second term after a disputed electoral victory last month, reported The Africa News. The inauguration ceremony was held in the capital city Luanda under a heavy security presence.
Last month, Angola’s National Electoral Commission declared the Lourenco-led People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) as the winner of the 2022 general elections held on Aug. 24, securing 51.17 percent of the cast votes.
The country’s largest opposition party, the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), gained 43.95 percent of the total votes.
The opposition rejected the results saying that the MPLA did not win the election fair and square and also appealed to the Constitutional Court to nullify the results. The court rejected the appeal earlier this month. According to the final results, the MPLA won 124 of the 220 National Assembly seats, while the UNITA finished second with 90 seats in parliament.
Lourenco took the oath in the presence of at least 12 heads of state and dozens of other representatives including the president of former colonial power Portugal.
“By electing the MPLA and its candidate, they bet on continuity as a secured way to guarantee peace, stability, and the country’s economic and social development,” Angola’s new president said.
He also congratulated all political parties and coalitions for their participation in the elections, which he said contributed to the strengthening of the resource-rich country’s economy.
He pledged to dedicate all his efforts to address the country’s main problems, starting with the social sector. He said that the government will prioritize human capital building as the “agent of development” by investing in education, housing, health care, and access to drinking water, electricity and basic sanitation.
Lourenco also pledged to continue the journey in preventing and fighting against corruption and impunity.
