After being evicted from the Lobito secretariat, in the Angolan province of Benguela, UNITA says it lost to figures linked to the former President, José Eduardo dos Santos, the Hotel “Grão Tosco”, in the same city, following a legal battle that brings the way in which several hotel units ended up being handed over to the MPLA
The main opposition party claims ownership of the eight-story hotel, arguing that the purchase was consummated in 1975, the year of national independence when the Angolan state carried out the confiscation of properties, which were subsequently resized.
Two weeks after abandoning its headquarters in Restinga, VOA learned that the ” Grão Tosco ”, rehabilitated but closed 10 years ago, has no property records in the Tax Administration, in the Hotel and Tourism sector, with a doubt prevailing in relation to to the Lobito Conservatory.
The provincial secretary of the ” black cock ” in Benguela, Abílio Kaúnda, recalls that the peace agreements impose on the Government the return of all assets.
“After the outbreak of the war, in 1976, we ended up losing this entire heritage. Now, within the framework of the various peace processes, and even Luena’s memorandum in 2002, the return was included … and this is the case here in Lobito, the hotel was handed over to the Dos Santos family, ” says Kaúnda.
Independent sources, with links to business associations, claim that the hotel was acquired by a representative of the former vice president, Manuel Vicente, and the rehabilitation was operated with the Lobito refinery on the horizon, for expatriate citizens.
The same sources believe that UNITA’s struggle is also being fueled by the dozens of hotels managed by MPLA figures, as are the cases, for example, of Armindo César, considered by workers as responsible for the bankruptcy of Mombaka, Bento Kangamba, Elias Chimuco, Paulino Baptista, among others.
VOA, jurist Francisco Viena, a former Housing official, admits a series of embarrassments around legal aspects but says that there are peace agreements to be taken into account.
“I understand that, according to the information I have, the Grão Tosco hotel belongs to UNITA. The Government that was in conflict with this party has moral responsibilities, ” explains Vienna, for whom “there are many agreements signed by the parties, and recognized by the international community, under which, and the Government knows, the UNITA party is entitled to your buildings. ”
It was not possible to obtain a statement from the MPLA’s second provincial secretary, António Kapewa Kaliangula, despite attempts.
