Isaías Henrique Ngola Samakuva (born 8 July 1946) is an Angolan politician who was the President of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) from June 2003 to November 2019.

After UNITA leader, Jonas Savimbi and his immediate successor António Dembo died from injuries sustained in a February 2002 firefight with Angolan government troops, Samakuva was elected as President of UNITA, which had transformed itself into a peaceful opposition party, in 2003.

Biography

Son of Henrique Ngola Samakuva and Rosália Ani Samakuva, Samakuva was born in Silva Porto-Gare (present Kunji), Bié Province.

In 1970, he was a professor at the Evangelical Mission House and then took a course in theology at the Seminary of Dondi, where he became an evangelical pastor. He formally joined UNITA in 1974 and, a year later, he was admitted as an official of the Ministry of Labour in the Transitional Government of Angola.

In 1976, due to political insecurity, he retired to the bush, settling in one of the bases of UNITA in the Military Region 25, moving then to Region 45, where he served as chief of staff of the command. Two years later, Samakuva was transferred to Region 11 to head the office of the leader of UNITA, Jonas Savimbi, thence to the region Kubango, which began coordinating the logistics of UNITA in the so-called on South front. Despite the party's objections to problems in the electoral process, Samakuva announced on 8 September 2008 that UNITA accepted the election results. The UNITA Permanent Committee subsequently met to consider the outcome of the election and Samakuva's leadership, and on 19 September 2008 it said in a statement that it "reaffirm[ed] its confidence" in Samakuva, blaming the party's poor showing primarily on abuses by the governing Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA).

He resigned as UNITA leader in November 2019 and was succeeded by Adalberto Costa Júnior.

References

  • Biography on Africa Confidential