‘People who are hungry cannot be silent’

Some of the people in the Angola capital, Lunanda, are afraid to openly talk about what happened in July when the protests stopped part of the city in July and shaked different areas.

Starting with a call to appear against the jump of fuel prices among taxi drivers, at least 30 people lost their lives and thousands of people were arrested for three days.

The road was blocked by a burning tire, the shop was plundered and a conflict between the protesters and the police.

It was one of the most important waves since the end of the 2002 Inter -Korean War.

On November 11, from Portugal to Angola, which is rich in oil that indicates 50 years of independence, demonstrations emphasized continuous concerns about poverty and inequality.

In the strongest protests, there are few intentions to speak publicly, and few people are worried about retaliation or persecution in light of numerous arrests during and after the protests.

A 24 -year -old Luanda Street supplier, who wanted to maintain anonymity, told the BBC, “The situation was not a bit controlled, but it had to be a lot of noise to wake up people with power.”

After leaving the school before the secondary education, he sells a refreshing drink along with Avenida Pedro de Castro Van-Dúnem Loy, one of the busiest roads in the capital.

He is one of millions of millions of people in a brilliant skyscrapers built with oil money.

In the case of suppliers, joining the first day of the demonstration was a way to show that “we have a voice,” and that people like that they are qualified as “a rich for some people but a miserable country.”

The youth unemployment rate was the main driver of protests in this young country with an average age of age.

The official figures reached 54%of the ages of 15-24. Only 3 million of the 18 million young people of the work age have a job in the official sector. In other words, they receive regular wages and pay taxes.

Many unemployed young people who are no longer in school in the main cities of Angola emphasize the difficulties of attention to satisfy their aspirations.

“I only sell on the street when I can get enough money to buy a refreshing drink,” Street vendor said.

“Because the business is so slow that there is a few months to sell nothing at all. Many young people and many other young people live like this and no one pays attention to us. So we can’t keep silent.”

Angola sociologist Gilson Lázaro was not surprised at what happened in July. He believes that people in the center of the protests are “disbanded”.

“They are young people who have nothing left except their own lives. So they went to the streets without fear.”

The protests have voluntarily emerged in Lunanda’s more population and poor areas, and some residents lack access to basic hygiene and other essential infrastructure.

According to sociologists, the protesters move to the main path of the capital, causing confusion, and “caused a” confusion and lifting “to the social problem that political elites are ignoring.”

Dr. Lázaro added, “For some time, Angol is a deep social and economical, and most of all, it is heading for a political justification. The root cause is a defective ruled by the state after the 2002 inter -Korean war.”

The mass movement (MPLA) for the liberation of Angola has been in charge of this country for 50 years.

In 2017, I hoped that João Lourenço, the president of José Eduardo Dos Santos, who changed power for 36 years, would change things.

He is currently in his second consecutive term since the 2022 election.

Lourenço promised to check what he saw when a corrupt system inherited from his predecessor: dealing with corruption, diversifying the economy, and creating a job.

Eight years later, critics claim that they are not doing so and are struggling to manage their survival costs. But slightly falling, but the annual inflation rate is still high at about 18%. According to a 2024 Afrobarometer survey, 63%of Angola’s economic situation has worsened compared to the previous year.

Young people have had a cruel problem in the problem and have been at the forefront of most anti -government protests in recent years, and are about the problems of corruption and police’s cruelty, demands of local elections, hunger and poverty.

But it did not match the size of anxiety in July.

LEA KOMBA, a 20 -year -old political science student, said that fuel protests are “terrible but somewhat expected.”

“We live in a country that ignores young people by people of power. The protests are the only way to complain about unstable conditions we face.”

The Angola government took a different view.

A government official did not respond to the BBC request for the demonstration and the aftermath, but in a national speech on August 1, President Lourso made clear his feelings.

He criticized the protests with “the actions of irresponsible citizens,” who protested “by social media, manipulated by traitors and foreign organizations, destroyed mourning, public and private property, reduced access to essential products and services, and caused the loss of Jobs of Angola.”

Angola relies on oil and gas despite repeated promises to diversify the economy, which is the main source of major exports and government imports of the state.

Angola Economist Francisco Paulo said, “Natural resources are good, but the problem is how income is used.”

“It would be a blessing for Angola to strengthen the non -oil sector and develop manpower by using oil wealth along with models such as Norwegian and Saudi Arabia.

After DOS Santos, Angola has endured five consecutive years, when the economy is reduced between 2017 and 2021.

Growth is only returned in 2022, mostly led by the parable. But recent growth has little influence on most Angola’s life.

In this report, the World Bank estimates that more than one -third of the population lives less than $ 2.15 a day.

It means that people are getting poor on average, saying that they could not catch up with the population growth while the economy is expanding.

IND

But student MS KOMBA questioned the old socialist slogan “one person, one country” created by a party, Marx-Leninist regime in the late 1970s.

“It’s not true that we all share the same reality. There’s a lot of inequality. Young people in the marginalized areas are almost condemned for extreme poverty without quality education or decent job even if they study hard and get a degree.”

“These young people think with the boat because they have nothing to lose because of hunger. They are people who filled the streets.”

KOMBA added, “The authorities should look at the root cause as well as the result.”

“Plunder was simply a way for young people to attract attention from power.”

I think she can be more anxious.

“We will see more protests from now to 2027 elections. We like, whether we like it, and political perceptions are growing in Angola, and elections are considered an important moment of real change.”