LUANDA, Angola – Angola denied entry to over 20 senior African political figures, including Tanzania’s Tundu Lissu and Botswana’s ex-President Ian Khama, on March 13, 2025, ahead of a democracy summit hosted by the opposition party Unita, sparking accusations of authoritarianism.
The National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (Unita) invited the leaders to its 59th anniversary celebrations in Benguela province. The event, set to begin on March 14, 2025, aimed to discuss democratic governance across the continent.
“The action of the Angolan government to prevent us from entering Angola is inexplicable and unacceptable,” Lissu posted on X at 6 a.m. local time (4 a.m. GMT) on March 13. He called Angola’s leadership a “dictatorship” masking as a democracy.
A Migration and Aliens Service (SME) source attributed the expulsions to “irregularities in the visa procedure.” This affected Mozambican opposition figure Venancio Mondlane and 13 of his entourage, despite Angola’s visa-on-arrival policy for many African nations.
Mondlane, restricted from travel in Mozambique over election fraud claims, was among those barred. Others included Kenyan Senator Edwin Sifuna and Zanzibar’s Vice-President Othman Masoud Othman, detained for nine hours at Luanda’s airport from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. local time (6 a.m. to 3 p.m. GMT).
Sifuna confirmed his deportation on X at 11 a.m. EAT (8 a.m. GMT) on March 13. The Platform for African Democrats (Pad) reported delegates from six African countries faced similar treatment, despite valid travel documents.
Pad noted that former Colombian President Andres Pastrana and 24 others missed flights after their detention. Angola promised a plane to resolve the disruption, but it never arrived, the group said.
Zanzibar’s ACT Wazalendo demanded Tanzania summon Angola’s ambassador. The party condemned the move at 2 p.m. EAT (11 a.m. GMT) on March 14, calling it a diplomatic insult.
Analyst Tomas Viera Mario told the BBC the decision was “strange.” He noted Angola’s President Joao Lourenco, current African Union chair, has cast himself as a regional peacemaker, hosting DR Congo talks next week.
Mario criticized the entry bans as showing “total contempt” for AU unity. The rejections came as Lourenco’s government faces long-standing claims of stifling dissent to preserve power.
Unita lawmaker Nelito da Costa Ekwiki denounced the government’s actions. He spoke out at 1 p.m. local time (11 a.m. GMT) on March 14, accusing authorities of undermining the summit.
The barred leaders hailed from Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, and beyond. Lissu, head of Tanzania’s Chadema, survived a 2017 assassination attempt and years in exile, amplifying his critique’s weight.
Angola’s move drew sharp rebukes across Africa. Pad called it a blow to democratic dialogue, urging accountability from Luanda as tensions simmer.
