Angola opens graft case into would-be ruling party leader

Angola has launched an investigation into alleged embezzlement and money laundering by a former general seeking to succeed President Joao Lourenco as leader of the ruling MPLA, the attorney general's office said.

The leader of the party that has held power since independence from Portugal in 1975 is traditionally its presidential candidate at elections. The next vote is due in August 2027.

Lourenco, 71, is nearing the end of his constitutionally limited second term but has announced he would seek to stay on as party leader at its December congress.

This had led to speculation that he may seek a third term, which would require a constitutional amendment.

Retired General Higino Carneiro, who has held several senior government positions in the oil-rich country, is one of the few public figures to have also announced a bid for the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) leadership.

The Attorney General's Office announced Tuesday he was under investigation for alleged embezzlement and money laundering while governor of the southeastern Cuando-Cubango province between 2012 and 2016.

The former general, 70, said in a statement Wednesday he was ready to cooperate with the investigation and defend "his integrity".

Carneiro has previously served as public works minister, deputy speaker of the National Assembly and governor of Luanda province, the capital.

The MPLA won the last general elections in 2022 with just over 51 percent, its lowest score.

UNITA -- a former rebel movement which fought a bitter 27-year civil war against the MPLA government -- notched up nearly 44 percent, up from 27 percent in 2017.