UNITA, the largest opposition party in Angola, on Monday called for more support and solidarity with the most vulnerable communities during the state of emergency so that the country “does not let its population starve to death”.
“We must remember that our country is full of communities that, even before the state of emergency, suffered from hunger, lacked products from the basic food basket,” noted Navita Ngolo, second vice president of the UNITA parliamentary group, during an action donation in Cacuaco (Luanda).
The deputy stressed that, due to the restrictions imposed, “many people can no longer travel to the square”, compromising their means of subsistence, and asked for more support for the most vulnerable during the state of emergency, which was declared on 27 March and today reached its 11th day.
“The resources are few, but we cannot allow people besides dying from the covid-19 to die of hunger. Angola cannot allow itself to do so, it cannot let its population starve to death,” he stressed.
In the community of plate houses, next to the Mayé-Mayé neighborhood, which the UNITA delegation visited, almost everything is missing.
It is a poor agglomerate, in the urban district of Sequele (municipality of Cacuaco) almost an hour from the city of Luanda, with no paved road, no school, no transport, no basic infrastructure.
The biggest difficulty is in the water, complains Esperança da Cruz André, 20, without even letting the smile fade.
The young woman, who carries a baby on her back, says that it takes two hours to walk to fetch water, that there is not always money to buy.
With the quarantine imposed by the state of emergency everything got worse: “Life is difficult here, sometimes we have nothing to eat”, he said. The diet varies little: “Sometimes quizaca [cassava leaves], sometimes bombó [soaked cassava]”.
Isaías Bendi reported the same difficulties, especially the lack of water and food and was concerned about the new coronavirus.
But more than prevention, it is God who trusts: “We have to thank the Grand One, who takes care of us”, especially because “the area in which we find ourselves is unfavorable for prevention”.
Madalena Simão, who received the food on behalf of the community, stressed that the aid will be properly distributed, as “everyone is feeling sick”.
“Here our food is only plowing [from the field]. It will take quizaca, it will take raw, without oil, without salt, we are really bad”, he lamented.
“We depended on the square. The other days we were going to sell, but now nobody can leave, we can’t leave, what are we going to eat?” He asked.
For the UNITA deputy, since many have no other source of income “it is necessary to activate the solidarity whistle”, arguing that everyone, from churches and businessmen to political parties, should mobilize and join the efforts of the executive.
“We all have to unite so that we can mitigate some needs,” said Navita Ngolo, considering the lack of water “stark”, considering that this is one of the most basic preventive measures against covid-19.
Flour, rice, oil and soap, “which is important for protective care”, are some of the products that today reached that isolated community, relieving hunger for a few days.
The country has so far registered 14 cases of infection with the new coronavirus, of which two resulted in death and two have already recovered.
