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Angolan lawyers challenge President’s appointment.
 
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Wed, 4 Jan 2017   ||   Angola,
 

Angolan lawyers, challenging the legality of the president's appointment of his daughter as chief executive of the state oil company, have applied for their case to be heard in the Constitution Court.

Ceoafrica gathered that the Supreme Court last month rejected an application by 12 human rights lawyers which sought to have Isabel dos Santos removed as head of Sonangol, which handles the country's vast oil and gas reserves. 

Angola’s President, Jose Eduardo dos Santos, whom lawyers have accused of nepotism appointed his 43-year-old billionaire daughter to the post in June 2016.  

"We have filed an extraordinary appeal at the Supreme Court, who transit the process to the Constitutional Court," David Mendes, one of the attorneys, said, adding that nobody should get advantage based on their origin.  

But Isabel dos Santos, who is ranked as Africa's richest woman by Forbes magazine, says she was given the job because of her business acumen.  

The 74-year-old president, who has been in power since 1979, has said that he will step down in 2018. Jose Eduardo Santos is also the commander in chief of the Angolan Armed Forces (FAA) and President of the People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), the party that has ruled Angola since it gained independence in 1975.

 

 

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