Luanda, ANGOLA, May 30 - The former Transport minister, Augusto da Silva Tomás, will be the second prominent Angolan politician to be trialed by local courts, since the current government took office in 2017.,

The former Transports minister’s trial kicks off on Friday at the Supreme Court.

Augusto da Silva Tomás who is being accused of embezzlement, violation of the norms on budget execution and continued abuse of power has been on pre-trial detention since September 21 of 2018

The former government official’s trial takes place just 41 days after the spokesperson of the ruling MPLA, Norberto Garcia, has been acquitted of all charges in the swindle case against the Angolan State.

 Along with those politicians, the Attorney General’s Office (PGR) has also indicted many other top figures, who have been accused of various crimes of which mismanagement of public asset and embezzlement.

One of the prominent figure facing criminal charges is the former CEO of the Angolan Sovereign Fund, José Filomeno dos Santos, who is expected to face trial over suspicions of public assets mismanagement.

José Filomeno dos Santos, who awaits trial at home, after spending six months under police custody, is also being accused of committing embezzlement while acting as the C.E.O of the Angolan Sovereign Fund (FSDA), criminal association, money laundering, and influence peddling. 

The former FSDA CEO is also been accused of swindling USD 500 million to the Angolan State.

In the meantime, the number of prominent politicians being indicted by the Attorney General’s Office includes the former Mass Media minister, Manuel Rabelais, and ex-governor of Luanda, Higino Carneiro.

Higino Carneiro is being accused of public assets’ mismanagement allegedly practiced while acting as Luanda governor in 2016 and 2017.

In his turn, Manuel Rabelais is being accused of harmful management of public assets, while director of the Office for the Revitalization of Institutional Communication and Marketing (Grecima), a position he held until 2017.

Both lawsuits remain under investigation in the National Directorate of Investigation and Penal Action (DNIAP).

The Prosecution Department also announced on Tuesday (May 28) that the former ambassador to Ethiopia and the African Union, Arcanjo Maria do Nascimento, has been placed under pre-trial detention.

The diplomat has been detained over evidences that, while in his diplomatic function, he committed crimes of embezzlement, passive corruption and money laundering, the PGR said.    

Carlos Panzo (ex-president aide for Economic Affairs) was sacked from this position and is currently under investigation for wrong doing.

Over the last two years, the Angolan justice has recorded huge number of criminal processes involving prominent figures of the State accused of corruption, money laundering and other practices harmful to the society.

Since September 2017, the government led by the president Joaõ Lourenço has been adopting several measures to crack down corruption and nepotism in the country, which prompted the investigation of many public mangers and political figures by the Attorney General’s Office. 

The combat against these bad practices is one the goals the Angolan Head of State intends to materialize until the end of his term in 2022.

In order to aid to crack down these bad practices, several legal tools have been approved by the parliament such as the law on Repatriation of Illegally Capital Deposited Abroad, which has helped the Angolan government to retrieve public assets unlawfully transferred outside the country.

According to last data the Angolan state least USD 3.5 billion has been recovered until March 2019 as part of the coercive repatriation of capital.

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