REPUBLIC OF ANGOLA
Embassy in
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
22 Dorset Street  London W1U 6QY
Tel:  020 7299 9850 -  Fax:  020 7486 9397

PRESS STATEMENT

ADDRESS BY PRESIDENT JOSÉ EDUARDO DOS SANTOS
AT SWEARING IN OF NEW GOVERNMENT

Luanda, 8 February 2010

Vice-President, Ministers of State, Ministers, Secretaries of State and Deputy Ministers

The oath you took to abide by and ensure compliance with the constitution and other laws of the republic is a guarantee that we can all form a cohesive government team ready to face the country’s problems with firmness, discipline and responsibility and to provide appropriate solutions for them.

A few days ago we spoke about the general intentions, principles and goals of the society we want to build, in keeping with the commitments made in the 2008 elections.

Today we are going to start to develop the general ideas into plans, executive programmes, tasks, mechanisms and tools for action to create better living conditions for Angolans.

We are not going to start from zero.  We have the national plan, the general state budget and the executive programmes for various sectors approved by the outgoing government, which just need to be adjusted or adapted to the new period and the new challenges we face.

The Council of Ministers, as an institution auxiliary to the President of the Republic and head of the executive, will meet on 12 February and will have on its agenda issues related to the organising and running of the executive, the draft law on administrative probity, the presidential legislative decree approving the instructions on the implementation of the 2010 general state budget and the contract between the Angolan government and Ernst and Young, a well known international consultancy firm, on assistance in reorganising the management of public finances, which includes the Central Bank of Angola and the Savings and Credit Bank, through which the state pays all the expenditure of the general state budget. 

Thus, the first steps to be taken in applying a strategy to ensure ethical service by the public administration are passing a law on administrative probity, reorganising and improving the management of public finances, with the assistance of the consultants mentioned, and also amending the law on the Audit Court.

Probity, in its usual sense, means honesty, honourableness and integrity and, within this context, relates to the duties, responsibilities and obligations of public servants in their day-to-day activity, in order to ensure administrative morality, impartiality and honesty.

This law will also establish the legal framework related to administrative morality and respect for public property, bringing together in a single legal document legislation on this that is now dispersed, and its implementation will discourage state institutions and public officials who seek to make public property a source of illicit enrichment.

Assistance with the reorganising and management of public finances and the training of officials will be an exercise similar to what we did years ago with the customs services when the situation was chaotic.

We are going to set a cut-off date, to establish a new starting point and start with new working methods, more discipline, new awareness and a public servant profile better suited to the tasks and duties with which they are entrusted. 

We reaffirm zero tolerance towards repetition of the mistakes and vices of the past in the public administration.

We are going forward to build a better future for everyone, paying more attention to education to prevent illicit activities and the violation of work discipline and, wherever possible, improving pay and working conditions.

Issues related to establishing accountability for the serious damage done in the past, where identified, will be dealt with by the appropriate institutions.

Another priority among the priorities of the executive is the urgent readjustment and re-launching of the national social housing programme throughout the country and harmonising all the executive programmes aimed at improving the lives of families in rural areas and on the outskirts of urban centres. 

We are going to work to rationalise means and increase efficiency in the rapid implementation of those programmes.

Finally, I would like to thank you for having accepted the invitation to take part in the arduous and stimulating task of building the new Angola.

I also thank our distinguished guests, who have helped to enhance this ceremony with their esteemed presence.

I now raise my glass in a toast to the health and good work of all those recently sworn in.