International
Angola president to step down after 39yrs in power
Angola’s President, Jose Eduardo dos Santos has said that he will step down in 2018, after ruling for 39 years, having ruled the country since 1979.
He told a congress of the ruling MPLA party, that “I took the decision to leave and end my political life in 2018” .
But it would not be the first time he is making such as announcement.
In 2001, Dos Santos said he would not seek office in the next presidential elections, which were then abolished under the new constitution.
He is Africa’s second longest-serving leader, after Equatorial Guinea’s Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo.
Read also: Suu Kyi not in contention to become Myanmar president
General elections are due in Angola, Africa’s second largest oil producer, in August 2017.
The southern African state is rich in diamonds, which fueled a 27-year civil war in the country.
The former Portuguese colony is the biggest military spender in sub-Saharan Africa, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
Since the end of the conflict in 2002, the country has witnessed an economic boom, though critics of the elected government say the wealth has only benefited a small elite.
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