Luanda –
The Angolan people go to the polls in August for the fifth time to choose their rulers and representatives in the Legislative Assembly of the Grand Chamber.
The road leading up to the general election, however, has strong signs of the social poverty that permeates the country, which is why analysts are calling for a political failure to take advantage of Angolan families’ socio-economic vulnerabilities.
A set of measures aimed at improving the lives of the people of Angola was carried out by the government of João Lourenço.
Among the actions aimed at changing the country’s social framework is raising the national minimum wage and the civil service.
The measures are welcome, analysts say, but because they come in a general election year, they raise awareness of the dangers of depriving political and electoral dividends.
The family must become aware of its importance in the political context, says João Nicolau, an anthropologist who advocates the creation of political consciousness by Angolan families so that they clearly understand the problems they want to solve after the 2022 general elections.
“The family should also see itself as a political organization. Seeing itself as a political organization, it presupposes knowing how to respond to the challenges that this whole process will offer.
From here, we need to start building political awareness among the families themselves,” he says.
Nicolau understands that such a family model is possible in the conditions of Angola, where the most needy families face all sorts of difficulties.
“Yes, it is possible, given what I would call political solidarity based on the testimony of Milton Santos,” he says.
Referring to the current political, economic and financial context, Sebastian André, a lawyer and professor at Mbothe University, cites some family assistance programs designed by the government to minimize social needs, as he does not approve of this idea, according to which is the most viable model to end poverty. where thousands of Angolans live.
“What needs to be done is to create a basis for the employment of family members. By having a job, families create ways to minimize poverty,” said the lawyer, for whom “the social and cash transfer program – Kwenda – implemented by the Angolan government is just a drop in the ocean,” given the range of problems that Angolan families face, especially in the year of universal elections.
According to this legal analyst, there are currently many factors in Angola that put families in a vulnerable position, so he proposes that the state develop policies to ensure that families are self-reliant through incentives to create more agricultural cooperatives and small and medium-sized companies.
On the other hand, anthropologist João Nicolau draws attention to the need for families to have an economic base capable of making positive leaps regardless of government initiatives.
This, in his opinion, should be the model of the family, which should be achieved after the elections.
“With effective methods, we can achieve this, and the path goes through this first: keep shouting so they can hear us. today, not only with regard to hunger, but also an atrophied conscience,” this analyst defends.
Relying on professionals in the humanities, such as sociologists, anthropologists, psychologists, social educators, may be the best way to find solutions to the problems that Angolan families face, adds Mbote Sebastian André, for whom campaign promises are not enough, it’s me in the elections, which will become part of the state, to move from words to deeds.
