Angolan activists Hitler Tschikonde and Nuno Dala, who were part of the group known as 15 + 2, today recalled the day they were detained five years ago, stating that the reasons for the struggle remain because Angola remains “hostage to the MPLA”.
“After 5 years, we have to ask: what has changed in Angola? In other words, are the reasons that guided 15 + 2 still current or have they been dissolved? ”, question the two social scientists in an open letter to which Lusa had access.
The seventeen Angolan activists were accused of preparing a coup d’état against the José Eduardo dos Santos MPLA Government and tried in the Luanda Provincial Court.
Five years later, Hitler Tschikonde and Nuno Alvaro Dala analyzed what changed in this period in terms of the political framework, economy and living conditions, rights, freedoms and guarantees, freedom of the press, administration of justice and state security services, concluding that the the situation remains identical in several aspects under the João Lourenço government, which succeeded José Eduardo dos Santos in 2017.
