DANQUAH BETRAYED UGCC

 By Ebow Mensah.

J.B Danquah

 A “Gold Coast Bulletin” of March 6, 1948 report shows that Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, founder of the Republic of Ghana was far more loyal to the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) than J.B. Danquah and the right wing of the Nationalist movement.

 The report says that Danquah and his right wing colleagues denied that they were representatives of the Convention during the 1948 riots.

They falsely claimed that they were representatives of the Ga Natives Authority.

The full report is published below;

THE CONVENTION & THE D.C. - WHAT REALLY HAPPENED

-Government Communiqué, 29th February. 

THIS afternoon a number of persons belonging to the United Gold Coast Convention sought through the District Commissioner, Accra, an interview with the Colonial Secretary and the Chief Commissioner of the Colony. They were Dr. J. B. Danquali, Mr. Akufo Addo, Mr. Blay, Mr. Obetsebi-Lamptey, Mr. Quist· Therson , Mr. William Ofori Atta and Mr. V. B. Annan. They stated that they wished to discuss measures to restore control in Accra. 

The Government's reply was conveyed to them through Mr. Moxon, District Commissioner, Accra, in whose house they had assembled. The reply was as follows :- 

"The Government strongly advises Dr. Danquah, Mr. Almfo Addo , Mr. Blay, Mr. Larnptey, Mr. Quist-Therson, Mr. William Ofori Atta and Mr. V. B. Annan,  claiming to be a delegation from then United Gold Coast Convention, to lose “no opportunity and to make strong efforts to assist in the full restoration of law and order in Accra. 

It is their duty, as it is the duty of every other citizen, to give every assistance; and the Government is determined that law and order shall be restored as early as possible and will take all possible and proper steps to that end. Moreover, the Government is determined that all possible steps be taken to assign the responsibility for recent criminal instigation of the people of Accra leading to the present deplorable and disgraceful rioting, and to see that lawful retribution is exacted. 

Government accordingly sees no special reason why they should meet the Colonial Secretary and the Chief Commissioner of the Colony ". 

When this message had been read over to them by the District Commissioner, the members of the" Delegation" denied that they had come as representatives of the United Gold Coast Convention. They claimed that they had made their representatives on behalf of the Ga Native Authority.

 An immediate enquiry disclosed that these persons had been given no authority the Ga Native Authority to act on it behalf.

EDITORIAL

STOP THIS NOW!

As we went to bed, there were reports that two more Ivorian refugees have been arrested and handed over to the Ouattarra regime.

Ivorian Interior Minister Trago being kicked in the face

This is in spite of earlier reports that an Ivorian refugee who was arrested and sent back home was cold bloodedly murdered by the security services of President Allassane Ouattarra.

Over the last three weeks at least five Ivorian refugees have been arrested and handed over to the Ouattarra forces.

The Insight insists that refugees have rights which ought to be respected by host countries.

In our view, the Government of Ghana cannot on its own and without reference to the judiciary just pick up refugees and hand them over to their countries of origin.

Ghana shares the responsibility for the violation of the rights of Ivorian refugees who are arrested and sent back to Ouattarra’s forces.

We strongly urge the Government of Ghana to end the continuing arrest and reparation of Ivorian refugees.

The practice is damaging to Ghana’s image as host of refugees from different parts of West Africa.

Please stop this now!

NKRUMAH OUR HERITAGE

Dr Kwame Nkrumah

Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah Nkrumah paid an official visit to Washington in 1960. He maintained his friendship with the President of the United States of America, john F. Kennedy, who was assassinated on the 22^nd August, 1963. The youth of America owe Kwame Nkrumah and Ghanaians a debt of immense gratitude. It was Nkrumah the sage, seer and international consultant of immense propensity who suggested to the late President Kennedy to form a Peace Corps to enable American youths to gain and share their experiences with the people of the world. President Kennedy could not sit bye without implementing an idea which he felt could help his country and the world. The Akosombo Dam, the Volta River Project and United States Investment in Ghana were all in the conundrum of that suggestion.But the dark Hands in America politics eliminated their President. Succeeding Vice-President Lyndon Johnson could not see eye to eye with the progressive and youthful policies of his predecessor, John F. Kennedy. 

Lyndon Johnson and his praetorial CI.A misinterpreted Osagyefos world of politics to mean that he was leaning towards the Soviets and Communism which the Americans loathed to scorn. But Nkrumah foresaw that it would be of immense benefit to both countries if China was admitted to the United Nations (UN) and the two countries established diplomatic relations. In his address to Ghanaian Parliament in September 3 1965, Dr. Nkrumah "said the voice of six hundred and fifty million must be heard".

Osagyefo the President emphasized that unless the people of the Republic of China took its rightful place on the Security Council and the United Nations General Assembly the World Organization would be frustrated in all its endervours. This appeal was put before the United Nations General Assembly. The reasons given were that the government of the People's Republic of China ruled a state more populous than any state in the world and it was in its right a great power. By September 1965 China had a population of 650 million whiles the population of United States of America was less than 100 million.

America could not foresee that there could be no peace, towards nuclear or conventional disarmament as long as China one of the world's nuclear powers was excluded from the world body whose charter calls for disarmament and world peace.

United State of America was very envious of the size and potential of China. China as the great developing nation of the world was deliberately been prevented from contributing its experience, knowledge and resources to solve the prosperity and poverty gab upon which the future of the world depends. 

In fact, it was the height of irresponsibility to exclude China a great power on the Asian continent from the United Nations deliberations on world issues including Kashmir conflict, the cruel war in Vietnam as well as Malaysia- Indonesia dispute. America dishonourably withdrew from Vietnam in 1967. 

If it had listened to Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, American invisibility in world affairs could have been maintained. It was these dark hands in American politics which helped to overthrow Nkrumah and the Convention Peoples Party Coming to terms with the realities of world's peace and stability. 

America and China have benefited and continued to benefit from the good relationship which Dr. Nkrumah initiated between these great nations. Today, the exchange programs between these two countries are worth billions of dollars each year. 

The exchange programmes covers trade, commerce, science, technology Tourism, military hardware and collaborating in the United Nations Security council and the General Assembly.Ghana has been the loser, if America had not destroyed the great mental capacity of our great leader Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana would not have remained under developed as it is today. United State of America and China who were opposed to each other must accept in uncertain terms the noble role Nkrumah initiated for their honey moon 

A. OWUSU-GYIMAH

 CALL FOR REFORMS IN NDC

In the name of the Almighty God, in the spirit of the founder of our Party, in fulfillment  of the legacy of former president J.E.A Mills and on the vision of president John Dramani Mahama, we the constituency branch executives of the NDC call on the leadership of our Party to embark on immediate constitutional reforms leading to the empowerment of the constituency branch executives in all the 275 constituencies in the country to elect the Partys’ flagbearer every four (4) years , including their respective regional executives as well as the national executives.

We therefore call for an engagement with the leadership of the Party leading to an amendment of the Partys’ constitution towards the realization of the hopes and aspirations of the majority of the grassroots’ before the 2016 general elections. 

For twenty years, we have managed and organized the Party at the grassroots’ level; mobilize the support base of the Party at every major elections; won four (4) out of six (6) major elections in the fourth republic; transformed the Party not only into an electoral winning machine but also into a Party of choice for the nations aspirational class, teaming youth and the older generation to name but a few.

Now is the time to honour and empower the Partys’ grassroots’ to assume greater positions and responsibilities for the political future of our Party, the NDC. Hence, the urgent need for the constitutional reforms to enable us shape the political will of the footsoldiers/grassroots’ as well as influence or determine the social and economic programmes of the Party/NDC government.

Today in the NDC power and authority resides in a few who have become too powerful and attract to themselves all opportunities, all at the expense of the grassroots’, though they (the constituency branch executives) are the managers and organizers of the Party.

We the constituency branch executives lack influence in our own Party because we do not have the power and authority to decide who becomes our respective regional executives, we do not elect the national executives and not to talk about the Partys’ flagbearer. Yet it is us who mobilize and organize the grassroots’ for constituency/regional and national rallies – it is us who are appointed and represent the party at the polling stations/collation centres as polling/counting agents to safeguard the partys’ electoral fortunes. It is us.

Over the years, we have become victims to vain assurances of the affluent mainstream constituency executives, the empty promises of the regional executives and the worthless recommendations of the national executives. We have been reduced to mere organizers and beggars in our own Party. It is now time to seek reforms and take ownership of our party, the NDC.

We are seeking for these constitutional reforms and with a new mandate to demand for a better  leadership not only from the Flagbearer/President at any given time but also to insist from leadership the core values and principles of our Party—which are selflessness, probity, accountability, transparency, integrity and social justice. 

We therefore appeal to the NDC footsoldiers/grassroots’ to support us in all the 275 constituencies to organize meetings and constituency/regional rallies to demand for this most important singular constitutional reform in our Partys’ history for our own goodness.

Join us in your constituency for the campaign dubbed “Rally for Constitutional Reforms’’.

Thank You.

Long live Ghana!!

Long live the NDC!!

Long live the NDC Foot soldiers!!

Signed

EBENEZER ARKUTU…0244131326

SECRETARY, TOM-TOM BRANCH—AYAWASO CENTRAL CONSTITUENCY

CONVENER FOR THE,

 ALLIANCE FOR THE EMPOWERMENT OF NDC CONSTITUENCY BRANCH EXECUTIVES

OTHER LEADING MEMBERS:

ALBERT SWATSON NYARKO…0242731471

KARIM HABIB…0243430135

MARTIN SENYO…0244035814

What the Butler Saw

THE laws of God, the laws of man,

He may keep that will and can;

Not I: let God and man decree

Laws for themselves and not for me;

And if my ways are not as theirs

Let them mind their own affairs.

Their deeds I judge and much condemn,

Yet when did I make laws for them?

So wrote A E Housman and he makes a fair point, particularly in relation to the ‘laws of God’. While ‘the laws of man’, at least in a country with an element of democracy, can be debated and repealed ‘The laws of God’ are absolute, imposed directly from heaven. And when they’re broken the authority for passing sentence and punishment is entrusted to whichever Holy Joe is looking after God’s interests in that corner of the world.

Paolo Gabriele, the Pope’s butler, who says he was “inspired by the Holy Spirit to root out evil and corruption” in the Vatican by leaking a stash of embarrassing facts to a journalist, was given an 18-month prison sentence for his trouble. He really should have ignored the Holy Spirit’s inspiration here. The Vatican has its own police force, the Vatican Gendarmerie, its own court and its own judges to keep the servants in order and prevent embarrassing secrets being leaked. What the butler actually saw and how much is still under wraps we’ll probably never know. The judges refused to admit some of the key evidence in the trial.

But it’s not only Paolo Gabriele who’s been spilling the beans about dodgy doings in the Vatican. A prominent catholic theologian, Hans Kung, has been calling for a ‘revolution from below’ to unseat the Pope and the Catholic hierarchy which he says is corrupt and lacking credibility.

He has described the church as an “authoritarian system” with parallels to Germany’s Nazi dictatorship. “He has developed a peculiar pomposity” he says of the Pope. “He’s frequently to be seen wrapped in golden splendour and swank”. “He wears the crown of a nineteenth-century pope and has even had the garments of the Medici pope Leo X remade for him”. “The Vatican is no different from the Kremlin,” he said. “Just as Putin as a secret service agent became the head of Russia, so Ratzinger, as head of the Catholic Church’s secret services, became head of the Vatican”.

Kung is no stranger to controversy in the wacky world of Catholicism. In 1979 he was stripped of the authority to teach Catholic theology by Pope John Paul II for questioning the concept of papal infallibility (Guardian, 5 October).

Things can certainly turn ugly when these religious drama queens fall out. The Pope’s butler though can be thankful that it was not the Taliban’s version of God’s laws in Pakistan that he broke.

On 9 October Malala Yousafzai, a 14 year-old schoolgirl in the town of Mingora in Pakistan where since 2009 the Tehrik-i-Taliban regime has been trying to ban girls from attending school, was shot in the head and neck in an assassination attempt. Her crime was writing a blog promoting her views on education for girls and detailing her life under the Taliban. A Taliban spokesman, Ehsanullah Ehsan, confirmed that she had been the target and called her crusade for education rights an “obscenity”.

Where Neocolonialism Meets Fundamentalism By Bill Fletcher, Jr

Fremch Soldiers in Mali

The entrance of the French military into the Malian civil war further complicates a descent into hell which that country has been experiencing for the last two years. Mainstream media attention has largely focused on the emergence of right-wing Islamists associated with Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, and the threat that this poses to the culture and people of Mali. Yet little background is presented regarding the whole conflict, particularly the circumstances that resulted in the unfolding disaster.

Up to the precipice

The country known as Mali was carved out of what was once known as French West Africa. Named after the famous empire of Mali (roughly 1200-1600 AD), Mali included various ethnicities, much like other former European colonies in Africa. In many cases these ethnicities had little in common, a fact that became particularly important with regard to the Tuareg people in the northern part of the country.

The Tuareg, part of the larger so-called Berber population of northern Africa, engaged in non-violent and violent confrontations with the Malian state almost from the time of independence in search of greater autonomy. This has been a source of constant instability.

Like most of the former French colonies, Mali remained of interest to France. During the years of Malian President Modibo Keita, efforts at genuine national sovereignty were pursued, but with the overthrow of Keita, French neo-colonial involvement regained the initiative. Mali, a country rich in natural resources, including gold and uranium, has remained important to global capitalism.

Algeria, Libya and unintended consequences

The Algerian civil war of the 1990s, along with the Libyan uprising (hijacked by the NATO intervention), had a direct impact on Mali. The Algerian civil war, which counter posed the military government against right-wing Islamists, was filled with atrocities committed by both sides, including atrocities attributed to the fundamentalists actually carried out by forces linked with the government. In the wake of the military defeat of the fundamentalists, a politico-military realignment took place in the camp of the right-wing Islamists and with it, the creation of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). AQIM has become one of the more successful and well-resourced of fundamentalist/terrorist organizations in Africa. But more importantly, its rise has been used as a pretext by the USA, starting some years ago, for greater US military involvement in the Sahel region of Africa under the guise of fighting terrorism.

 

Rebel Fighters in Libyan

The trajectory of the Libyan uprising, which began as a non-violent protest and then escalated into a full-blown civil war in the aftermath of repression by the Qaddafi regime, provided a basis for further instability in the region. In the aftermath of the NATO intervention, which derailed efforts at justice and national sovereignty, the situation in northwest Africa became increasingly unsettled. The source of that instability was the combination of armaments possessed by the now fallen Qaddafi regime that ended up flooding northwest Africa, along with the exit from Libya of many of the late Qaddafi’s former African allies. AQIM along with dissidents in northern Mali were major beneficiaries of this flood of arms.

The revolt

Taking advantage of a weak Malian government and the arms they obtained in Libya, the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA the French acronym; Azawad is the name given by the Tuareg to the region), launched an uprising. Better organized than the Malian army, they quickly moved to victory, largely seizing northern Mali. Joining in this uprising, however, were various right-wing Islamist groups, including those with ties with Al Qaeda.

The Malian army, finding itself repeatedly defeated by the MNLA, turned against the recognized Malian government and launched a coup at. This illegal act was broadly condemned in the international community and did nothing to garner real support for a termination of the conflict with the Tuareg.

In the north of Mali, events shifted unexpectedly. Right-wing Islamists, who had allied with the MNLA, now turned on them. It quickly became clear that their objectives for the uprising in northern Mali clashed with those of the MNLA (the latter seeking an independent northern Mali or Azawa. Despite the fact that the MNLA had organized and led the uprising, an alliance of right-wing Islamists revolted against the MNLA and took control of northern Mali. The right-wing Islamists, including but not limited to the AQIM, continued the war with the Malian government, pushing south. As things unraveled for the Malian government, the West African community (ECOWAS) became increasingly concerned about  spill-over into neighboring countries, including both an expanded Tuareg uprising as well as right-wing Islamist terrorism.

The moment

The Malian government, which has proven unstable, corrupt and with little credibility, has found itself unable to defeat the right-wing Islamists. Its cry for help resulted first in discussions about an ECOWAS military intervention in order to stabilize the situation, and, ultimately, to the French intervention with ground troops and aircraft. A new twist is that the MNLA, based in Niger, announced on January 20th that they were prepared to join in the struggle against the right-wing Islamists.

The Malian civil war(s) contains within it sources of profound regional instability. Despite the domination of the right-wing Islamists in northern Mali, the underlying issue is political. Specifically, without addressing the historic demands of the Tuareg population of northern Mali, irrespective of the right-wing Islamists, in addition to the on-going tensions between the Tuareg and ethnic groups in the south of the country, Mali will gain no stability. For that reason alone the French intervention, rather than helping to bring about a resolution to the conflict, may very well extend and expand the conflict.

A second point of note is that the fragile condition of too many African nation-states leaves them incapable of standing up to both corruption and neo-colonialism, not to mention varying forms of fundamentalism (Christian, Muslim, ethnic, etc.). While this is a legacy of colonial rule and the, often, bizarre national borders created at the time of independence and the lack of real economic independence, this situation will not be resolved by anyone but Africans. The involvement of the African Union and ECOWAS can be positive, but only to the extent to which it advances national sovereignty, peace, justice and African unity. Insofar as either of these institutions is perceived as an agent of outside imperial interests, they cannot fulfill this historic task.

 

French Soldiers in Mali

 A third point is that it is not possible to ignore right-wing Islamism, and specifically, right-wing Islamist terrorism. The objectives of the right-wing Islamists, e.g., AQIM, are thoroughly reactionary and destructive, as can be seen by the reign of terror that they have wrought in northern Mali. Their political misogynism along with their fixation on a mythical Islamic past, do not serve the cause of economic and social justice, not to mention African unity. Though they claim the banner of anti-imperialism, they are no more genuine anti-imperialist than were the Japanese fascists in World War II who claimed to be fighting for Asia for the Asians, while instead advancing their reactionary aims. About this point, one cannot afford any confusion.

In this situation, the USA must desist from its manipulative and provocative role. Beginning during the George W. Bush administration, in the aftermath of the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks, the US escalated its military presence in the Sahel region of Africa. Though terrorism Muslim and/or non-Muslim was not the major threat to Africa (whereas, civil wars, poverty, HIV/AIDS, and imperial robbery were), the US insisted on a militarization of the region, including close collaboration with undemocratic regimes. This involvement did not advance democracy, and it certainly did not stop the advance of terrorism. Rather, this irresponsible interventionism coupled with the NATO hijacking of the Libyan uprising, has resulted in exactly the opposite.

 

A political settlement must be brought about in Mali. This must include the full and unconditional reinstatement of democratic rule in the country. The military must return to the barracks. The French military must also return to their bases France, and withdraw from this conflict. ECOWAS and the African Union, however, have a different role. They must step up to the plate and provide multiple levels of support to a process of democratization and stabilization. They are needed as intermediaries in settling the military conflict. They must bring the right amount of pressure to bear on the Malian military to return legitimate political rule to the country. They must help the people of Mali sort out the real and perceived ethnic conflicts that have divided the country. This includes, but is not limited to, the question of the Tuareg.

The role of the African Union and ECOWAS is not, primarily, a military role. Though legitimate authorities in Mali may, at some point, need military assistance as part of the process of stabilization, such a move must be made by the people of Mali rather than the French, the USA, or for that matter, any of the agents of global capitalism within the various African ruling elites. This role for ECOWAS and the African Union must be respected and supported by the United States, rather than undermined and subverted in order to advance the interests of US hegemony and global capitalism.

It is up to the people of the United States of America, particularly, but not exclusively, those of us of African descent, to take a stand on this matter and show real solidarity with the people of Mali rather than fall prey to the demagoguery and misinformation that dominates the mainstream airwaves.
Silence is not an option.

Source:Ocnus.net 2013

Angola: Ten years of peace but at what price?

There may be much that is shiny and new in Angola, but 10 years after the end of the war many ghosts remain, as Louise Redvers reports for BBC Focus on Africa magazine.

Angola Prez Eduado Dos Santos

It is a milestone that at one time few would have thought possible. On 4 April, Angola marks a decade since the end of the 27-year civil war which devastated the country, claiming countless lives and displacing millions. 

The conflict involved three different liberation movements and saw intervention from the former Soviet Union, Cuba, the United States and apartheid South Africa.

How times have changed. Today Angola can now boast of a booming economy - forecast to grow 12% this year - and a growing regional and international diplomatic profile.

“Start Quote

Foreign investors are flocking to Angola hoping to share in the boom times ”

End Quote

Angola's physical transformation since the end of the war has also been immense.

Oil revenues and associated Chinese loans have bankrolled an ambitious national reconstruction programme of roads, airports, bridges, hospitals and schools.

In the sprawling cities, where the war-weary sought refuge during the height of the conflict, urban slums are being given a facelift.

And once productive agricultural fields are now being cleared of landmines ready for replanting; industries like cotton and coffee are being revived and old copper, iron and gold mines are being re-opened for prospection.

Meanwhile, foreign investors are flocking to Angola hoping to share in the boom times and Luanda's tiny Fourth of February airport is overwhelmed by new flights coming from across Africa as well as Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

African success story?

Angola

• One of Africa's biggest oil producers
• Up to half the population living in poverty
• Economy expected to grow by 12% this year
• Angola recently offered to buy assets from former colonial power, Portugal
• President Jose Eduardo Dos Santos in power since 1979

The president of nearly 33 years, Jose Eduardo dos Santos, and his MPLA party remain the dominant power in the country, having claimed a military victory over rivals Unita following the death of rebel leader Jonas Savimbi in February 2002.

Senior members of the MPLA - which won an 82% majority in the 2008 legislative election, the second in Angola's history - have a tight grip over all aspects of the country's economy and both state and private media are heavily biased in the government's favour.

On paper, and in the view of the ruling party, Angola is an African success story - an example of how a war-torn nation can rebuild itself in peace.

In fact Mr Dos Santos sees himself as a regional elder and this year holds the presidency of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the Community of Portuguese Language Countries.

 Angola is now even helping to rescue its former colonial power, Portugal, which has been hit hard by the Eurozone crisis and is selling off state and private assets to raise cash. But scratch below the surface and the picture is less pretty.

Despite the country's rapid economic growth - rated as faster than China's during the past decade - it is estimated that up to half the country still live on less than $2 (£1.25) a day.

There may be vast new housing estates with neat gardens and swimming pools springing up around the country, but for the majority of Angolans, home is a shared bed in an unpaved, overcrowded slum with limited access to running water, sanitation or electricity.

Unemployment remains stubbornly high and despite huge investments, the roll-out of mass education is yet to yield tangible benefits. Health services also remain severely limited. This is due to a lack of skilled professionals as well as pervasive corruption.

'Superficial society'

Rates of child mortality have decreased significantly since the end of the war, but one in five youngsters still die before their fifth birthday and the country remains near the bottom of the United Nations Human Development Index, ranked 148 out of 187 countries.

The family of President Jose Eduardo Dos Santos controls a large chunk of Angola's economy. "In 10 years of peace the government has not delivered a true peace dividend to the Angolan people," says Paula Roque, a political analyst and Angolan expert at Oxford University.

 

"It makes no sense that Angola should continue with the level of poverty we are seeing when there is so much money coming from oil."

But for Ms Roque the issue goes deeper than poverty alleviation. She questions just how peaceful and reconciled Angola really is when the ruling party has, since the end of the war, silenced all narratives except its own and imposed on the population what she calls a "superficial society".

It is true that Angola's school-taught official history belongs to the MPLA, as do the nation's symbols like its flag and national anthem.

It makes no sense that Angola should continue with the level of poverty we are seeing when there is so much money coming from oil”

End Quote Paula Roque Oxford University

This is a point Unita, now a parliamentary opposition party, tried to contest during the drafting of the country's new constitution in 2010.

Perhaps emblematic of this is the continuing fight carried out by Mr Savimbi's supporters to return his remains to his home town for an official burial.

All the while the government is pouring millions of dollars into a mausoleum and a museum for the country's first President Agostinho Neto who died in 1979 and is hailed as a national hero.

Justin Pearce, from the London School of Oriental and African Studies, shares the view that while Angola looks "remarkably peaceful" it has in fact undergone no formal or deliberate reconciliation process.

"The general message from the government is that now the war is over, everything else will look after itself," he explains, adding that the deep complexity of past allegiances have also made people reluctant to confront their past for fear of creating trouble for themselves or their families.

Signs of discontent

Mr Pearce highlights that during the war members of the same family may have been actively involved in Unita and in the MPLA, and a person may even have been involved in both parties at different times of his or her life.

"The soldiers who fought in the war had mostly been conscripted and had no choice in the matter and at a civilian level - if you were captured, or if a different army took control of the place where you were working, then your own survival depended on professing loyalty to and working for that side," he says.

There were rare anti-government protests last year

Mr Pearce, who has interviewed former soldiers in central Angola, points out that integration and reconciliation appears to be very much on the MPLA's terms.

Ms Roque adds: "There has been no conciliated narrative about the war or Angola's past. It is still struggling to define who it is and there's very serious discontent at many levels."

This discontent showed its face last year when a group of young Angolans staged rare protests against the government and called for the resignation of the president, who vies with Teodoro Obiang Nguema of Equatorial Guinea for the unenviable title of Africa's longest-serving leader.

Although small in size and quickly put down by Angola's notoriously tough police force, the demonstrations revealed a free-thinking new generation which is not afraid of the MPLA or scarred by war experiences.

The party reacted by accusing those involved of trying to destroy the peace process and promote "national insurrection".

State media was filled with religious leaders calling for peace to be restored and political figures condemning what they said were "acts of criminal insubordination" that threatened the country's stability.

Ms Roque suggests that the MPLA has actually taken "ownership" of the country's relative peace as a commodity, and is fiercely protective of it. 

There is growing consensus, however, that it is the ruling party itself which is increasingly unstable, unsure of how to deal with this new wave of criticism which challenges its hegemony and threatens its access to state resources.

Angola is scheduled to go to the polls later this year. There is little doubt the MPLA will win.

This is as much down to the weakness of the opposition as to the ruling party's likely manipulation of the voting process. But it is what follows next that is critical.

"There are cracks appearing in the MPLA's system of governance and I truly believe that change is coming to Angola," says Ms Roque. 

"There are many ghosts and all are the ingredients for a palace coup. We have to hope the change will come through dialogue and not violence."