Angolans in diaspora to vote in the coming general elections

Angolans living in the diaspora are set to vote at the country’s August general elections for the first time.

Authorities say they hope to register about 450,000 Angolans spread across the world.

Mário Sousa, 53, who has lived in the UK since 2002, will be one of them and says this is an achievement for all Angolans living abroad.

So is Luzia Moniz, an Angolan journalist who has lived in Portugal for 33 years.

She says that diaspora voting is “a first step towards what is needed to move the country forward as a democracy”.

However, Ms Moniz is concerned about the vote-counting process as the ruling party MPLA says votes from the diaspora will be counted at the electoral commission headquarters in Angola’s capital Luanda.

“We need more transparency in the voting process. It is not enough for the diaspora to vote. We need to end autocracy,” she says.

Voter registration is scheduled to end on 31 March.