Feature Article : "The views expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of Modernghana.com."

Angolans and those who have followed the turbulent and violent history of that country might have taken in a deep breath and heaved a heavy sigh of relief when they heard that the leader of UNITA, the main opposition party in Angola, had conceded defeat in their recent polls.

“Despite everything that happened, the Unita leadership accepts the election results and hopes the winning party, MPLA, will govern in the interest of all Angolans,” the Unita leader, Isaias Samakuva, said in a statement on Monday, August 8, 2008 to put to rest any fears that Angola would go back to war if there should be any dispute after the elections, the first to be held since 1992 and seen to be a crucial step towards the country's recovery from decades of war.

There was general apprehension and fear during the run-up to the election following accusations that MPLA, the government party, was paying bribes and using the security agencies to intimidate its opponents, who are mainly members of UNITA.

With the history of the continent where violence always erupted after any electoral process and the recent bitter experience of Kenya yet to recede from memory, there were genuine fears that Angola, which has spent the greater part of its independent life on war, could degenerate into another battlefield of senseless killings.

When the Portuguese colonialists hurriedly left the country in 1975 under the guise of granting Angola independence, the well-endowed country, in terms of natural resources, exploded into civil war.

The Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), under the leadership of Dr Agostino Neto, had to battle the National Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA), under Holden Roberto and the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) under Dr Jonas Savimbi for territorial control.

It did not take long for the FNLA to fizzle out, but UNITA, with its anti-Communist badge, drew a lot of support from the US and its Western allies to counter MPLA, which drew its support from the then Soviet Union and its allies.

For nearly 17 years, Angola became an ideological battle ground in the superpower rivalry of the Cold War era.

 Bolstered by money coming from the diamond trade that UNITA controlled, Savimbi ignored all peace overtures until the collapse of the Soviet Empire in 1990, which brought the bitter Cold War to an end.

In 1992, after many attempts at peace making, Angola held its first UN-certified elections, the results of which were disputed by Jonas Savimbi and his UNITA movement and the country was plunged into civil war again.

Fresh attempts culminated in the signing of the Lusaka Peace Accord in 1994, which brought about some appreciable level of peace until 1998, when Savimbi, after repeated violations of the peace accord, went back to war.

The end came on February 22, 2002, when government troops killed Savimbi. The death of the warlord was followed six weeks later with the signing of a ceasefire agreement with UNITA rebels.

 That signalled the end of a bitter civil war that lasted nearly 30 years and caused the loss of hundreds of thousands of lives and the dissipation of natural resources on the war effort by both sides.

The recent elections were generally seen as a watershed in Angolan politics, which will either consolidate its democracy or trigger another bout of civil conflict.

Even though the observer mission from the Southern Africa Development Co-operation (SADC) declared that the polls had been transparent and peaceful, there were various infractions typical of all elections conducted on the continent.  Continued    Source: Kofi Akordor

"The views expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of Modernghana.com." To have your articles publish, please submit them to editor@modernghana.com.

Other Articles by Kofi Akordor