Chronicle Editor
Visiting US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday lauded Angolan President Joao Lourenco’s anti-corruption drive, which has seen him pursue his predecessor’s children over accusations they fleeced state coffers.
Last month, Angola indicted Isabel dos Santos, the 46-year-old billionaire daughter of ex-president Jose Eduardo dos Santos, for a host of top-level financial crimes, including money laundering and influence peddling.
“During his first two-and-half years in office President Lourenco has done great work to make it (corruption) a ghost of the past,” Pompeo told a news conference during a one-day visit to Luanda where he held talks with Lourenco.
“He has increased transparency, he has helped financial institutions clean up their books and he has pursued bad actors,” he said.
Angolan billionaire and former first daughter Isabel Dos Santos has decried a New Year’s Eve court order to freeze her vast assets as a “witch hunt” engineered to weaken her father’s influence and distract from economic failures.
“I’m optimistic that he will continue to liberate Angola from corruption.”
The charges against Isabel dos Santos followed the January publication by international media outlets of a probe dubbed “Luanda Leaks” that claimed she fraudulently accumulated fortune estimated at $2.1 billion.
She has denied any wrongdoing and says she is a victim of a political witch hunt. The ex-president’s family and close allies prospered during his 38-year rule which ended in 2017 when he stepped down to make way for his anointed successor Lourenco.
Pompeo said graft has “stunted this nation’s vast potential for far too long”, pledging US support to help the oil-rich country curb corruption.
Online Reporter