Luanda - The Minister of State and head of the Civil Affairs of the President of the Republic, Adão de Almeida, said Wednesday that the country's new Political and Administrative Division (DPA) will provide a closer relationship between the administration and citizens.
Adão de Almeida was speaking in the National Assembly Plenary, as part of the general discussion and vote on the Political-Administrative Division Bill, which provides for 20 provinces, 325 municipalities and 375 communes.
He said that with this structuring the country creates the conditions "for us to have administrative bodies with decision-making capacity that are closer to the citizens and therefore capable of better managing people, better managing the territory and better projecting local development".
The Minister of State said that, with this structure, the Executive wants administrative bodies to be in a better position to solve people's problems.
He recalled that the basic proposal, which was prepared in 2021 and submitted for public consultation, aimed to divide the provinces of Moxico, Cuando Cubango, Lunda-Norte, Malanje and Uíge.
In this regard, he recalled that continuous consultation and careful consideration of various aspects led to the decision to prioritise, at this stage, only the two largest provinces: Moxico and Cuando Cubango.
He also said that it was proposed to divide the province of Moxico, the largest in the country, into two, Moxico, with its headquarters in Luena, and Cassai Zambeze, with its headquarters in Cazombo.
Adão de Almeida said that the Government was fully prepared, within the framework of the parliamentary debate, to support the replacement of the name "Cassai Zambeze" with another that would be more consensual, a willingness that would extend to other similar situations.
The proposal also aims to divide the province of Cuando Cubango, the second largest in the country, into two, Cubango, with its headquarters in Menongue, and Cuando, with its headquarters in Mavinga.
Moxico province has 223,000 square kilometres and Cuando Cubango has 199,000 square kilometres.
According to the Minister of State, with such a territorial extension, the difficulties of exercising government action are all too evident, given the distance between the main local centre for political decision-making and the people.
He gave the example of the fact that, on the African continent, Moxico and Cuando Cubango alone are larger than the 12 smallest countries on the continent combined.
He also pointed out that of the 27 countries of the European Union, 19 are less extensive than Moxico and Cuando Cubango alone.
"There seems to be no doubt about the need, the urgency and, above all, the benefits of changing the political-administrative division of these two provinces," he said.
Regarding the changes at municipal level, he revealed that the proposals have the underlying objective of continuing to work to make the municipality the centre of government action.
"On the one hand, because today we have municipalities with a high concentration of population, particularly in the main urban centres, and, on the other hand, because we have municipalities with a large territorial extension. Both influence the quality of government action," he said.
In these cases, Adão de Almeida recognised that the qualities of commune and urban district have not proved adequate for proper intervention in resolving community problems.
It is therefore proposed to elevate some urban districts and communes, as well as some localities, to the category of municipality, totalling 161, bringing the country to 325 municipalities.
Entry into force in 2025
He said that with more municipalities, they would be able to better occupy the national territory, particularly in areas bordering neighbouring countries, allowing for a better approach to the phenomenon of immigration and the massive settlements of foreign citizens on national territory, which is also motivated by the weak presence of the state.
Adão de Almeida emphasised that around 30 new municipalities are proposed in border towns, while at the infra-municipal level it is proposed to maintain some municipalities, totalling 375.
According to the government official, the project's vision envisages that the so-called "comunas-sede" will no longer have administrative units, as a means of avoiding overlapping and conflicting competences, but will be managed directly by the municipal entities.
"What we have in our hands is the question of whether our compatriots who live in Rivungo or Dirico will continue to have the provincial political decision-making centre in Menongue, 690 km and 580 km away respectively, or whether we put a new provincial political centre in Mavinga, closer to solve their problems," he said.
On 11 November 1975, Angola became an independent state and in the meantime opted to maintain the political-administrative division of 1971. At that time, in 1975, the Angolan population was estimated at around 6.5 million.
This was followed by a number of one-off changes, most notably those made in 1978, which divided the province of Lunda into the province of Lunda-Norte and the province of Lunda-Sul, and in 1980, which divided the province of Luanda into the province of Luanda and Bengo. In other words, for 44 years the country has had 18 provinces and approximately 160 municipalities. DC/SC/DAN/DOJ
