7 Killed, 28 Injured as Angolan Police Confront Protesters

Sunday, January 31, 2021

Police officers are seen during an anti-government demonstration on the day of independence in Luanda, Angola, on November 11, 2020. On January 30, 2021, at seven people were killed during protests in Lunda Norte province.

Osvaldo Silva | AFP

By Arnaldo Vieira

Angola Correspondent

Nation Media Group

In a statement, however, the police service said it foiled an armed rebellion, organised by 300 members of the Lunda Tchokwe Protectorate Movement (LTPM), in self-defence.

Seven people were killed and 28 injured in Angola on Saturday as police quelled protests in Lunda Norte province, 656km north of the capital, Luanda.

The incident took place in Cafunfu village, Cuango Municipality.

In a statement, however, the police service said it foiled an armed rebellion, organised by 300 members of the Lunda Tchokwe Protectorate Movement (LTPM), in self-defence.

The police officers accused the demonstrators of attacking a police station in order to raise the movement’s flag.

LTPM’s head, José Mateus Zecamutchima, rejected the claim of an armed rebellion, saying it was a peaceful and orderly demonstration agitating for talks with the government about the region’s autonomy.

“The killing of seven demonstrators and the injuring of 28 others is a barbarous and cowardly act,” he said.

Fight for autonomy

LTPM, a political group set up in 2007, seeks the administrative and financial autonomy of the former Tchokwe Kingdom, which comprises the provinces of Lunda Norte, Lunda Sul, Moxico and Kuando Kubango.

Angola has extensive diamond reserves (estimated at 180 million carats), especially in the provinces of Lunda Norte and Lunda Sul in its north eastern region.

In 2007, the group sent its manifesto to the then President José Eduardo dos Santos asking for discussions on autonomy, but there was no feedback.

In 2017, the US Department of State, in its ‘Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Angola, noted that LTPM members held several protests that year in a demand for autonomy.

It added that the government at times arbitrarily restricted the activities of associations it considered subversive by refusing to grant permits for organised activities.