The daughter of the former President of Angola, Isabel dos Santos, has had her assets frozen after approximately 715,000 documents were leaked indicating acts of corruption in Angola, which left the country as one of the poorest on Earth.
The leaked documents, known as the Luanda Leaks, were obtained by the Platform to Protect Whistleblowers in Africa (PPLAAF) who then shared them with the International Consortium of Investigate Journalists (ICIJ).
THE FORMER PRESIDENT OF ANGOLA AWARDED HIS DAUGHTER FINANCIAL BENEFITS WHILE IN OFFICE
The investigation revealed that José Eduardo dos Santos, the former President of Angola in power for 38 years, awarded Isabel public contracts, tax breaks, telecom licenses, and diamond-mining rights.
In 2016 Isabel was also assigned as head of the state oil company, but was later fired by the new Angolan President. However, this did not stop Isabel stealing from the oil company as she ordered a money transfer to a company in Dubai, which was controlled by her business partner.
Isabel is not the only dos Santos being accused of corruption; her half-brother, José Filomeno dos Santos, allegedly attempted to loot $500m from Angola’s sovereign wealth fund - he had pleaded not guilty at trial.
Prior to Jose Eduardo dos Santos standing down as President, the Angolan Constitution was reformed, which provided the former President with immunity from criminal prosecution.
INTERNATIONAL COMPANIES HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO THE HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSE IN ANGOLA
In 2013, Van Oord - a Dutch company - was involved in an urban development with Isabel. They were contracted to design and construct the new land for the project. ING and Atradis were also involved in the project by lending the Angolan government $400 million and insurance on the same development.
As a result of the developments, approximately 3,000 families were forced to relocate to make way for the development. The army and police restricted the citizen’s access to food and water and assaulted them by using tear gas and hot-water cannons. Residents were told they would be taken to their new homes but instead they were dumped on the roadside.
Out of the 3,000 families who were forced to relocate, 500 of them moved to the other side of the land, Povoado, which was previously a waste dump. The families are now inhabiting houses made out of tin and children are left to play in an unsafe environment causing diseases such as meningitis and malaria.
In a statement, Van Oord said it was unaware of the forced evictions and undertook research prior to getting involved with the project, which confirmed that there were no reasons as to why the project shouldn’t proceed.
While the rich are living a lavish lifestyle, the majority of the country’s citizens were struggling to make ends meet on less than $2 a day.
Allegedly the dealings carried out by Isabel and her husband, who is a businessman and art collector, have resulted in the government incurring losses of $1.14 billion.
Isabel dos Santos has denied the allegations of corruption and said that the government is on a “witch-hunt”.
After having completed the Bar Professional Training Course (2018), Safia currently working as a Costs Advisor in a law firm. Her life goal is to make a positive change in the society we live in, no matter how small that change might be.