Angola's New President: Age And What It Means

João Lourenço is the current president of Angola, having been in power since 26 September 2017. Born on 5 March 1954, he is 69 years old. He replaced José Eduardo dos Santos, who had ruled the country for 38 years.

João Lourenço's age

João Lourenço, the current president of Angola, was born on 5 March 1954 and is currently 69 years old. He has served as the third president of Angola since 26 September 2017.

Lourenço grew up in a politically active family of ten children. His father, Sequeira João Lourenço (1923-1999), was a doctor and nationalist who served three years in prison for illegal political activity during Portuguese rule. His mother, Josefa Gonçalves Cipriano Lourenço (1928-1997), was a seamstress.

Lourenço received a Portuguese-language education in Bié Province and Luanda. He studied at the Industrial Institute of Luanda and later joined the liberation struggle in Ponta Negra in August 1974, fighting against the Portuguese in the Angolan War of Independence as a member of the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA).

Before becoming president, Lourenço held various political and military roles. He served as the governor of several provinces in Angola and was responsible for propaganda in the MPLA's Politburo from 1992 to 1997. He was also the party's secretary-general for several years and served as Minister of Defence from 2014 to 2017.

In December 2016, the MPLA designated Lourenço as their top candidate in the 2017 legislative election. He was officially elected president of Angola on 23 August 2017 and took office on 26 September 2017, becoming the country's third president.

Current political landscape in Angola

Angola's current political regime is presidential, with the President of the Republic also serving as head of state and government. The President is advised by a Council of Ministers, which forms the national executive power alongside the President. Legislative power rests with the 220 parliamentarians elected to the National Assembly. The President and the parliament together appoint the majority of the members of the two highest bodies of the judiciary, the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court.

Since the adoption of a new constitution in 2010, Angola's politics have been based on a presidential republic framework, with the President of Angola serving as both head of state and head of government, and a multi-party system in place. Executive power is exercised by the government, while legislative power is vested in the President, the government, and parliament.

The current President of Angola is João Lourenço, who was sworn into office on 26 September 2017. He replaced José Eduardo dos Santos, who had been in power for 38 years. Lourenço is a member of the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), the ruling party since 1975.

Lourenço's government has made fighting corruption its flagship program, with many individuals from the previous administration being jailed or awaiting trial. This has been recognised by foreign diplomats, although some skeptics view these actions as politically motivated.

In August 2022, the MPLA won another outright majority, and Lourenço won a second five-year term in the election. However, the election was the tightest in Angola's history.

The 2010 constitution grants the President almost absolute power, including the power to appoint and dismiss key government and judicial officials. The President also defines the country's policies and promulgates laws.

Angola's government is composed of three branches: the executive, legislative, and judicial. For decades, political power has been concentrated in the presidency, with the MPLA.

Angola's independence from Portugal

João Lourenço, born on 5 March 1954, is the current president of Angola, having been in power since 26 September 2017. He replaced José Eduardo dos Santos, who had been in power for 38 years.

Now, onto Angola's independence from Portugal.

The Angolan War of Independence (1961-1974) was a war fought between Angolan nationalist forces and Portugal. It began as an uprising by Angolans against the Portuguese imposition of forced cultivation of cotton as a commodity crop. As the resistance spread, multiple factions developed, and three nationalist movements emerged: the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), and the National Liberation Front of Angola (FNLA).

The war ended when a peaceful coup in Lisbon in April 1974 overthrew Portugal's Estado Novo dictatorship. The new regime stopped all military action in its African colonies and granted them independence without delay.

Portugal officially granted Angola independence on 11 November 1975, but the transition to independence was not smooth. Multiple nationalist forces were fighting among themselves to establish control over the newly liberated state. The MPLA, backed by the Portuguese Communist Party, Cuba, and the Soviet Union, managed to gain control of the capital city of Luanda and declared itself the government of independent Angola.

The FNLA and UNITA set up a rival government in Huambo and called on South African forces to eject the MPLA from Luanda. Cuba sent troops to defend the MPLA, pushing the South Africans out of Angola. The MPLA, in control of Luanda, managed to win recognition from many African countries.

The transition to independence was marked by violence and civil war, with various nationalist movements vying for power. The MPLA, UNITA, and FNLA signed the Alvor Agreement in January 1975, which granted Angola independence and established a transitional government. However, the coalition government soon fell apart as the factions fought for control. The MPLA, in control of Luanda, turned on UNITA, chasing its representatives out of the capital.

In November 1975, Portugal withdrew from Angola without formally handing power to any movement, and the country descended into a bitter civil war. The MPLA, UNITA, and FNLA continued to fight for control, with foreign powers, including Cuba, South Africa, and the Soviet Union, becoming involved. The civil war lasted several decades and had devastating consequences for the country.

Lourenço's predecessor, José Eduardo dos Santos

João Lourenço, born in 1954, is the current president of Angola, having been in power since 26 September 2017. He replaced José Eduardo dos Santos, who was in power for 38 years.

Dos Santos, an Angolan politician and military officer, served as the president of Angola from 1979 to 2017. He was born on 28 August 1942 in what is today the district of Sambizanga in Luanda. His parents, Avelino Eduardo dos Santos and Jacinta José Paulino, had moved to Portuguese Angola from the colony of Portuguese São Tomé and Príncipe. His mother was a maid, and his father was a builder and construction worker. He attended primary school in Luanda and received his secondary education at the Liceu Salvador Correia, now called Mutu ya Kevela.

Dos Santos joined the MPLA (Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola, or People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola) while in school. The MPLA was then an anti-colonial movement. Due to repression by the colonial government, he went into exile in neighbouring Congo-Brazzaville in 1961. From there, he collaborated with the MPLA and soon became an official member of the party. He continued his education in the Soviet Union, receiving degrees in petroleum engineering and radar communications from the Azerbaijan Oil and Chemistry Institute in Baku by 1969.

In 1970, dos Santos returned to Angola, which was still a Portuguese territory. He served for three years in the MPLA's guerrilla force, the EPLA (Exército Para a Libertação de Angola, or People's Armed Forces for the Liberation of Angola), becoming a radio transmitter in the second political-military region of the MPLA in Cabinda Province. In 1974, he was promoted to sub-commander of the telecoms service of the second region. He was the MPLA representative to Yugoslavia, Zaire, and the People's Republic of China before being elected to the Central Committee and Politburo of the MPLA in Moxico in September 1974.

In June 1975, dos Santos became the coordinator of the MPLA's Department of Foreign Affairs and Department of Health. Upon Angolan independence in November 1975, the MPLA held power in Luanda, but the new government faced a civil war with the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) and the National Liberation Front of Angola (FNLA). That same year, dos Santos was appointed Angola's first Minister of Foreign Affairs upon independence, playing a key role in obtaining diplomatic recognition for the MPLA government.

Dos Santos was elected president of the MPLA on 20 September 1979, taking office as President of Angola and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces on 21 September. In the first Angolan parliamentary election on 9 November 1980, he was elected President of the People's Assembly of Angola as a one-party state.

Dos Santos inherited a civil war against Western-backed anti-communist rebels, most notably UNITA, led by Jonas Savimbi. By 1991, his government agreed with rebels to introduce a multi-party system, changing the MPLA's ideology from communism to social democracy. He was elected president in the 1992 Angolan general election, defeating Savimbi. However, UNITA resumed the fighting, which did not end until Savimbi's death in 2002.

Dos Santos periodically talked about stepping down but did not follow through on these declarations. In 2016, he announced his plan to retire in 2018, and João Lourenço was chosen as the party's presidential candidate for the 2017 legislative election. Dos Santos stepped down from the presidency but retained power and influence by remaining head of the MPLA until September 2018, when he was succeeded by Lourenço.

The People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA)

João Lourenço is the current president of Angola, having been elected on 23 August 2017 and sworn into office on 26 September 2017. Born in 1954, Lourenço grew up in a politically engaged family of ten children. His father, Sequeira João Lourenço, was a doctor and nationalist who served three years in prison for illegal political activity. His mother, Josefa Gonçalves Cipriano Lourenço, was a seamstress.

Lourenço joined the Marxist People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), one of three liberation movements that seized power in the capital, Luanda, in 1975. The MPLA was founded in 1956 when the underground Angolan Communist Party (PCA) merged with the Party of the United Struggle for Africans in Angola (PLUAA). From 1962, it was led by Agostinho Neto, who became Angola's first president. The MPLA fought against the Portuguese Army in the Angolan War of Independence from 1961 to 1974, and against the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) and the National Liberation Front of Angola (FNLA) in the Angolan Civil War.

The MPLA declared the People's Republic of Angola in November 1975, which was not recognised by all governments. The party was supported by Cuba and the Soviet Union, while UNITA was backed by South Africa and the United States. In 1977, the MPLA refashioned itself as a Marxist-Leninist party and added the words 'Party of Labour' (PT) to its name. Neto died in 1979 and was succeeded by José Eduardo dos Santos, who gradually shifted the party's stance to improve relations with Western countries. Dos Santos stepped down in 2018, having been in power for 38 years.

Lourenço's early political career was confined to the MPLA, where he was responsible for keeping guerrilla soldiers' morale high. He served as the party's Secretary-General from 1998 to 2003 and was Governor of Moxico Province from 1984 onwards. He also served as Minister of Defence from 2014 to 2017. In September 2018, he became the Chairman of the MPLA, replacing Dos Santos.

In the 2017 election, the MPLA won a majority of 150 seats, and Lourenço automatically became President of Angola. The party has ruled Angola since the country's independence from Portugal in 1975.

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