Ghanamotion.com Ghana's Premiere News site
The Angola parliament has suspended the daughter of former president Jose Eduardo dos Santos for “unjust enrichment” as his successor seeks to crack down on nepotism past and present.
Dos Santos appointed several family members to key economic and political positions during his 38-year rule, which ended after he stepped down in September 2017.
Welwitschia dos Santos, nicknamed “Tchize”, was elected to parliament in 2008 and joined the central committee of the ruling Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) in 2016.
The National Assembly late on Tuesday voted to suspend Welwitschia one of the ex-president’s six children from parliament, saying her absenteeism from the body amounted to “unjust enrichment”.
Tchize, the former president’s second daughter, moved to Britain last year after claiming Angola’s secret services were threatening her.
Tchize has repeatedly used WhatsApp to blast her father’s successor Joao Lourenco, in her latest recording she accused parliament of political persecution and claimed she did not choose to leave Angola.
“I had to flee because I was being threatened with death by the MPLA,” Tchize said via WhatsApp on Tuesday.
“I am completely censured by public press and even by most private media (outlets) controlled by people linked to the regime,” she added.
The MPLA had already threatened to suspend Tchize’s mandate in May for spending more than 90 consecutive days abroad.
Lourenco has launched a large-scale purge of the administration and public companies, mainly targeting dos Santos’ relatives.
The president dismissed Isabel dos Santos from her position as chair of state oil company Sonangol two months after he took office.
Source: AFP
