On Friday July 8, coinciding with news of the death of former Angolan President José Eduardo dos Santos, it was revealed that two of his closest associates face trial on corruption charges in connection with business deals funded by the Peoples' Republic of China to purchase Angolan oil and fund post-war reconstruction.
The indictment, signed by three prosecutors[1] from the Ministério Público on July 4, runs to 80 pages listing 233 separate clauses detailing the alleged crimes, and citing 36 named witnesses to be called to testify. Generals 'Kopelipa' and 'Dino' both face trial on multiple charges of criminal association, money-laundering, fraud, falsification of documents and influence-peddling. General 'Kopelipa' faces additional charges of abuse of power and peculation.
Isn't it curious then, when Manuel Vicente appears to have been the principal actor in this ingenious scheme to defraud the Angolan Treasury and the state-owned Sonangol company, that he is neither indicted nor called as a witness? Instead the chief prosecution witness from Sonangol is Francisco de Lemos Maria, Vicente's successor as chairman and CEO . Lemos Maria had been Sonangol's Chief Finance Officer during Vicente's tenure.