Optimism on entering an historic ‘third era’
PROVINCE OF HUAMBO Stability inspires efforts to mobilize the people to help rebuild social structures

ntonio Paulo Kassoma, governor of the province of Huambo, believes that Angola is finally on the road to peace and reconstruction.
He has seen hopes for peace and stability evaporate before his eyes in the past; most notably after his appointment as governor in 1997 when he embarked on a plan to rebuild the province only to see it grind to a halt when fighting broke out yet again.

Kassoma: peace

Increase efforts
This time, however, he is more optimistic about the future. “We have to increase our efforts towards national reconciliation,” he says.
A former deputy minister of defense in the national government, Mr Kassoma says: “It was thanks to the experience I gained in the central administration and my military background that I was able to control the situation in this province during the war. I also have direct access to my colleagues in the central administration whenever I need help to solve the province’s problems.”

Mr Kassoma believes that Huambo is entering the third era of its history. The first consisted of the period prior to independence when the province was seen as one of the most advanced in what was then the Portuguese colony of Angola. The second era began with independence and included the civil war. The third, he argues, is starting now, with the hoped-for end of conflict.
While any moves towards peace will partly consist of persuading followers of the rebel leader Jonas Savimbi to lay down their arms, it will also involve practical day-to-day measures aimed at improving the living standards of the population.
“We need consolidation to reduce the high level of poverty and to raise living conditions by improving the quality of drinking water and supplying clinics and hospitals with adequate equipment and qualified doctors,” he says.

“In three years I want to increase the number of schools in the province and provide all the villages with electric power and basic sanitation.
Mr Kassoma has no illusions about the extent of the task facing his government: “There are still many things that need to be done in this province, and after this initial phase of improving living standards we will begin rebuilding our economy.”
“In Chianga we have a food technology centre in which we process the agricultural products for different industries, where they they increase the quantity according to consumers’ best interests.”

The first objective on the economic front is to rebuild the agricultural sector and Mr Kassoma intends to mobilize the population to help him achieve that. The authorities are supplying seeds to farmers, who in turn donate some of the seeds from their own harvests to keep the system going for future years.
Once farming is re-established,
the government hopes to foster investment in other sectors of the economy. “In Huambo, we have a total willingness to give all kinds of professional support to investors,” says the governor.

Foster investment
He says Huambo is prepared to introduce incentives in order to compete with other provinces to attract foreign investment. “This province has been much destroyed by the war and is in greater need than the others,” he adds. “I would like to see the homeless and refugee situation resolved. I’d like to see free movement of people and goods given that this is a fundamental condition for any economic development.”