Angola has come under fire after denying entering several senior African politicians who will attend a meeting chaired by the country’s main opposition parties.
The rulers said it invited politicians, including Tanzanian opposition leader Tundu Lissu, Venancio Mondlane of Mozambique and Ian Khama, former president of Botswana, to attend the summit of democracy.
Lissu said on X: “The actions of the Angolan government to prevent us from entering Angola are inexplicable and unacceptable.”
The BBC has asked the Angolan government to comment.
However, according to sources from Immigration and Foreign Services (SME), “the deportation was caused by a violation in the visa process, which prevented Mondlane and 13 other entourages from entering Angolan territory”.
Mondlane, who has called for nationwide protests on what he calls elections, was subject to travel restrictions on his home country this week.
Lissu said at least 20 leaders and representatives from various African political parties were denied entry.
“The government of this country ruled the dictatorship while pretending that Angola was a democracy,” he said.
Lissu is a voice critic of the Tanzanian government and head of the main opposition party Chadema. He survived the assassination attempt in 2017 and has been exiled for several years.
Kenyan Senator Edwin Sifuna, who is the opposition Orange Democracy Movement, said on X that he was one of those who were denied entry into Angola.
Others include former Colombian president Andres Pastrana and first vice president of Zanzibar, Othman Masoud Othman.
The Vasaronto bill, the main opposition party of Zanzibar, urges the Tanzanian government to immediately call on the Angolan ambassador to formally explain why the party’s vice president was denied entry into the country.
Tomas Viera Mario, a political analyst in Mozambique, told the BBC that the move was “strange” as Angolan President Joao Lourenco positioned himself as a mediator on the continent.
Lourenco is currently the president of the African Union (AU) and is conducting peace talks next week over the conflict between the Congo Doctor.
Mr Mario added that unless these figures indicate “complete contempt and “little no respect” for the pan-African spirit of the AU.
All deported leaders were part of a delegation invited by New York State to attend the 59th anniversary celebration in Bangladesh.
New York State Councilor Nelito Da Costa Ekwiki also condemned the decision not to allow them to enter the country.
The Angolan government has long been accused of closing objections to maintain its control of power.
Other reports by Jorge Nsimba in Luke
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