Angolan President visits Ghana

Presidents Dos Santos (Left) and JEA Mills (Right) at the Kotoka International Airport in Accra

By William Yaw Owusu

Tuesday June 22, 2010
The Angolan President, José Edduardo dos Santos arrived in Accra yesterday on a two-day official visit.

He was accompanied by First Lady, Ana Paula dos Santos and was met on arrival at the Jubilee Lounge of the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) in Accra, by President John Evans Fiifi Atta Mills and First Lady Ernestina Naadu Mills.

Accompanying the Angolan President and his wife were State Minister and Head of the President’s Civil House, Carlos Feijó, Foreign Affairs Assunção dos Anjos and Oil Minister, Botelho de Vasconcelos.

The Angolan President’s plane, A6-RJX touched down at 10:17 am and both Presidents took the national salute at 10:27 but could not inspect the guard of honour mounted because it was raining.

President Mills spotting a smart black political suit with the Angolan leader in
an ash suit after the national anthems exchanged pleasantries and went ahead to shake hands with Ministers of state, heads of security agencies and other departments as well as the diplomatic corps before leaving the airport to have a close-door meeting at the Castle, Osu.

The Angolan President was expected to lay a wreath at the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park in memory of Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first President.

The Angolan ministerial delegation was also expected to hold bilateral talks and sign two agreements, relating to permanent consultations between the Foreign Affairs ministries and economic co-operation, technical and cultural cooperation.


The two presidents are expected to meet again today for another, closed-door, after which a communiqué will be read.

The Angolan Head of State then travels to Brazil, for another official visit starting from 23-24 June, under the invitation of his Brazilian counterpart Luís Inácio Lula da Silva.


Angola, an oil-rich country gained independence from Portugal on November 11, 1975 with Agostinho Neto as leader of the Marxist Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) as President. When President Neto died in 1979, President dos Santos succeeded him and it was under his leadership that Angola became a multi-party democracy.

The most recent elections, held in 1992, re-elected President Dos Santos with 49 per cent of the votes. Dos Santos's opponent, Jonas Savimbi of the National Union for Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) party, claimed that the elections were fraudulent sparking a long civil war which only ended when Savimbi was killed in 2002

In January 2010, the National Assembly approved a new constitution, according to which the leader of the party with the most seats in the Assembly would become president, rather than a public vote taking place.

The new constitution also limits a president to serving two terms, although it does not count terms served to date, and abolished the post of Prime Minister, the responsibilities of which will pass to the vice-president

Also see: www.dailyguideghana.com