Angola: Political violence in Uíge is a Serious Warning Ahead of the 2027 Elections

The Platform for African Democrats (PAD) expresses grave concern over the violent suppression of the opposition in Uíge Province, Angola, between 5 and 8 August 2026.

On 8 August, security and law enforcement forces violently attacked citizens who had gathered peacefully for a rally by the country’s official opposition, UNITA. Some 34 people were injured, and 10 of them are in a critical condition. The scale of the violence and the circumstances surrounding the action raise serious concerns about the use of state security forces to suppress legitimate political activity.

The rally was not an improvised or clandestine event. UNITA had formally communicated its plans to the competent authorities in advance. The planned location was also known to the provincial authorities and was reiterated by the UNITA leadership during a courtesy meeting between UNITA President Adalberto Costa Júnior and the Governor of Uíge. The rally was part of a programme of political and commemorative activities marking the 92nd anniversary of the birth of UNITA’s founding President, Dr Jonas Malheiro Savimbi.

PAD is particularly alarmed by reports of a broader escalation of political tensions in the days preceding the incident, including confrontations involving young people associated with different political forces and the proliferation of ruling-party political material around UNITA’s provincial headquarters.

The events of 8 August therefore cannot simply be dismissed as an isolated disturbance. They point to a deeply troubling pattern of political intolerance at precisely the moment when Angola should be expanding political space and preparing for credible and peaceful competition in the 2027 general elections.

The reported circumstances surrounding the intervention also raise the most serious concerns about whether the security operation was intended merely to prevent a political gathering or whether it represented a deliberate attempt to endanger the leadership and supporters of the opposition. The reported attempt to target the UNITA President, Adalberto Costa Júnior, must be independently investigated. No political dispute in a democratic society should ever put the life of a political leader or ordinary citizens at risk.

Angola has been governed by the same political force since independence. The country now faces an important test of whether it is prepared to move towards a genuinely competitive political system in which opposition parties can organise, campaign and communicate with citizens without intimidation or violence.

The 2027 elections are approaching, and what happens now matters. An election cannot be considered free and fair if opposition parties are prevented from meeting their supporters, if security institutions are used selectively against political opponents, or if citizens fear violence for exercising their political rights.

The international community has repeatedly expressed its commitment to democracy in Africa, yet too often concerns about political repression are met with diplomatic caution rather than meaningful action. The events in Uíge should be treated as an early warning of the conditions that may confront Angola’s opposition and electorate as the country approaches the 2027 elections.

PAD calls on the Angolan authorities to conduct an independent and credible investigation into the events in Uíge, establish responsibility for the violence and ensure the protection of all those injured. We further call on African and international partners to closely monitor Angola’s political environment ahead of the 2027 elections and to make clear that political violence and the suppression of legitimate opposition activity cannot be accepted as part of Africa’s democratic development.

The developments in Angola follow political trials, security force violence and the suppression of electoral opposition in Tanzania, Zimbabwe and Uganda, which represent grave assaults on democracy and the entrenchment of elites who once fought for freedom against just such repression.

Angola’s young people deserve a political future in which political competition is settled through the ballot box and not through intimidation, violence or the abuse of state power. The credibility of Angola’s 2027 elections will depend not only on what happens on election day, but on the political freedoms that are protected in the months leading up to it.

The Platform for African Democrats stands with all those in Angola who seek democratic competition, political freedom and peaceful change.

Signed by:

Ian Khama, Former President, Botswana

Moeketsi Majoro, Former Prime Minister, Lesotho

Adalberto Costa Júnior MP and President, UNITA, Angola   

Adhanom Seretse, Vox Tigray, Ethiopia

Alfonso de Prat Gay, Former Finance Minister, Argentina 

Branko Brkic, Leader of Project Kontinuum, South Africa

Carine Kanimba, Spokesperson for the World Liberty Congress, Rwanda

Christine Esperanza !Auchamus, National General Secretary, Independent Patriots for Change, Namibia  

David Coltart, Senator and Mayor of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe

David Lewis Rubongoya, NUP, Uganda

Diing Deng Mou, Presidential Candidate, South Sudan

Dorothy Semu, ACT Wazalendo, Tanzania 

Edwin Sifuna, Senator: Nairobi County, Kenya

Eerik-Niiles Kross, Member of Parliament and Foreign Affairs Committee, Estonia 

Greg Mills, Custodian Platform for African Democrats, South Africa

Ivone Soares, Deputy Leader,  RENAMO, Mozambique

Jeffrey Smith, Director Vanguard Africa, USA

John Heche, Chadema, Tanzania

John Kitoka, Director of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs, Chadema, Tanzania

Jonas Mulato, International Relations Secretary, Unita, Angola

Juan Carlos Gutierrez World Jurist Association Human Rights Institute, Venezuela

Juan Diego Molina, Researcher at the Institute for Culture and Society, University of Navarra, Spain

Kate Almquist Knopf, WestExec Advisory, USA  

Leopoldo López (Mr), Co-Founder: World Liberty Congress, Venezuela 

Luis Franceschi, Former Assistant Secretary General - The Commonwealth, Kenya

Luis Ravina, Director: Navarra Center for International Development, Spain

Manuel de Araujo, Mayor, Quelimane, Mozambique  

Merera Gudina, leader of the Oromo People's Congress, Ethiopia

Nic Cheeseman, Professor of Democracy at the University of Birmingham, UK

Paula Cristina Roque, Executive Director of Intelwatch, Angola

Ray Hartley, Custodian Platform for African Democrats, South Africa

Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu (Bobi Wine), National Unity Platform, Uganda  

Stephan Malherbe, Chair and Founder, Genesis Analytics, South Africa

Tendai Biti, Leader of the Constitution Defenders Forum, Zimbabwe

Tut Riek Jikany, Former Ambassador to the US, South Sudan 

William BANDOMA, Executive Director, Human Rights Forum, Democratic Republic of Congo

Yvlien Vouvoungui Siama, Kaani Assistance, Congo

The Platform for African Democrats(PAD) is a forum for Africans dedicated to building democracy and ending autocratic rule. Only with democracy and the rule of law can economic growth, the delivery of services and a better life for citizens be achieved.