Peter Hain – 2000 Speech on Angola and the Responsibilities of Wealth

The speech made by Peter Hain, the then Minister of State at the Foreign Office, on 6 July 2000.

I was born in Africa, and grew up in Pretoria where my parents were first jailed, then banned, then forced into exile in London where I continued their struggle as a leader of the British Anti-Apartheid movement.

And now my job as British Minister for Africa gives me again the chance to make a difference. I am determined to do so. Our goal is a proud, safe, democratic, prosperous Africa. A self-confident Africa in which the views and aspirations of all Africans can be clearly heard, and fully taken into account.

I have been to Angola before, in 1995. As now, it was strangled by war. Images of Huambo stay in my mind: Limbless, starving people. Every shop, office, and house gutted. Hopelessness and despair on peoples’ faces. The misery of the displaced. Thirty-five years of fighting fuelled first by the Cold War ideological clash between communism and capitalism, then by the pure greed of oil versus diamonds.

During that visit I met the Government in Luanda. Then I flew deep into the bush to Bailundo, to meet Jonas Savimbi. He promised he would honour the United Nations peace agreement he had signed in Lusaka. But at the same time as he lied to me, he was re-arming, and the war started all over again. And still there is no end: the Angolan people deserve so much better.

I am particularly pleased that so many members of Angola’s civil society are here. We usually hear talk only of the Government, of UNITA, of the United Nations. But civil society as a whole – press, NGOs, the churches, trade unions – all have a vital, perhaps a central, role to play in Angola’s future.

Angola has suffered from slavery, from colonisation, from the geo political rivalries of the Cold War. But the past cannot continue to be used as an excuse. Angolans cannot allow themselves to be trapped by their history. Angolans must take responsibility for their future.

In the past, foreign interests in the USA, South Africa and Europe supported UNITA and Savimbi to prolong the war for their own interests. Today I can assure you that this is not true for Britain. I hope it is no longer true for any other country. Some foreign individuals do profit from war in Angola by buying blood diamonds from Savimbi and selling arms and fuel. But there is no reason why Angolans should allow these evil people to control your destiny. If Angolans can find a just peace, no outsider should come between them and a secure and prosperous future. Your economy could develop. Your roads and hospitals could be rebuilt. Your children could be educated. You could travel freely throughout your beautiful country.

The rest of us would benefit too. Britain would spend less on humanitarian aid and save money on the UN. British businesses would have new opportunities for investment and trade. Angola would become a dynamic force for stability and progress in Southern Africa, instead of a dark threat to the peace and prosperity of its neighbours.

SANCTIONS

But for this vision to become a reality, the war has to end. What can you do? What can we do to bring peace closer? The British Government’s view is that there are two major issues to be addressed. I will describe them here:

First, Savimbi’s power to wage war has to be blocked by sanctions, vigorously enforced. We want to stop him selling his diamonds and block his supplies of fuel and munitions, until he is forced to lay down his arms as he promised in the Lusaka Protocol in 1994.

I have been in the forefront of the international efforts to make sanctions effective. For as long as the fighting continues the British Government will seek to tighten the sanctions against UNITA, to cut off the outward flow of diamonds and inward flow of arms and fuel that sustains the misery of the Angolan people. And we will continue to expose those involved, however high or low: from African Presidents, to European arms and diamond dealers, to African based air companies – whatever their nationality. Their dirty trade deserves international condemnation. It is also illegal, so each of these individuals should be tracked down, publicly exposed and prosecuted. The diamond dealer in Belgium receiving UNITA’s blood diamonds helps to landmine children. The arms company in Bulgaria or Ukraine helps Savimbi to kill and maim. The European or South African pilot is just as culpable. Without these guilty people, the war would be over.

Savimbi has repeatedly broken the United Nations peace agreements he has signed. So how can we trust his word again? Could he change? Could he contribute to the search for peace? I very much doubt it. Attacking convoys taking food and shelter to the displaced, planting mines to maim those who try to raise a crop, mutilating and killing unarmed villagers – these are not the actions of a leader with a cause who wants a better Angola for his people. They are the actions of a bloodthirsty tyrant who wants personal power at all costs.

But UNITA needs to be part of a political debate about the future of Angola. It needs to have a new policy for peace. It must lay down its arms and play an active part in a dialogue about Angola’s future. Britain is willing to help achieve this. Too much is at stake. UNITA represents an important constituency in the country, politically, rurally and ethnically. Its voice deserves to be heard – but through ballot box not through the barrel of a gun.

The world will not tolerate any more of Savimbi’s lies and obstructions. UNITA must be part of a political process and it must naturally honour any commitments it makes. To end such a long and bitter war everyone has to compromise. It will take courage on all sides. Agreements must be honoured in full. And I promise this: Britain along with other European Union countries will back such an agreement. We will support the Angolan people in their right to peace, to live a decent life, to begin farming properly again, to begin rebuilding their shattered country.

GOOD GOVERNANCE, DEMOCRACY AND HUMAN RIGHTS

The second issue is good governance, democracy and human rights. These have to be made a reality for all Angolans so that they can peacefully share in Angola’s prosperity.

There must be space for the exchange of ideas, which is fundamental to democracy. Having different ideas about the best way forward does not mean disloyalty to the state. But the debate is not just between the MPLA and UNITA. There are other political parties. As important, there is civil society.

A strong, independent civil society is very important to sustain a healthy democracy. In every society there are groups of people who come together because of their profession, their beliefs, their interests, their ideals.

These formal and informal groups – churches, trades unions, humanitarian societies, human rights groups and many more – are each entitled to have their voices heard when they argue for what their members believe in. The more they are seen to live up to their own ideals, the more likely they are to gain the support of their fellow citizens. Although political parties are vital in a healthy democracy, civil society groups help connect government to the people. Open debate is good for our democracies.

Of course, those of us in Government do not enjoy being criticised. As a Minister I know only too well what it feels like to see my name in the press or hear it on the television followed by critical or ill-informed comment. But that criticism is one of the guarantors of our democracy. I urge the Government to be bold in recognising the same in Angola. In any democracy there will be protest marches. (I used to organise marches myself years ago against apartheid!). And it is a rare journalist who thinks that the Government has got it absolutely right. Open discussion in an open society: that is the way forward to success.

I have condemned the broken promises and murderous activities of Jonas Savimbi. But I have also felt able to speak honestly to President dos Santos and his Ministers and advisers about the evils of corruption. Angola is rich country made poor by corruption and dishonesty. Her wealth must benefit all her people not just a few. The money from oil and diamonds must go to new hospitals, schools, universities and technical institutes. It must build new roads, bridges and railways. It must be used to lift ordinary Angolans out of poverty, fear and dependency. And used to ensure that they can develop both themselves and their country to their full potential.

In five years time oil export revenues could be as much as eight billion US dollars (depending on oil prices) per annum. This compares with government expenditure in 1999 equivalent to around three billion US dollars.

Ending corruption and making government accountable will boost international business confidence and create greater prosperity and jobs.

Angola’s huge resources – its natural wealth and its people – must not be squandered on War. The Government’s recent offensive against UNITA has been more successful than many expected. But I do not believe that there is a purely military solution to this war. Angola has become a war economy. Huge riches from oil and diamonds are just being wasted away as lives are lost or brutalised and the country devastated almost beyond belief. We have to make a fresh start. And Britain is ready to help.

Ending the war is not enough. We must rule out the chance of future wars. Angolans deserve open and transparent administration. No bribes. No favours. Just good, clean government. Angolans deserve to see their economy being transformed into an open market functioning within the rule of law and delivering benefits to all.

I welcomed the news that the Government has agreed to an IMF Staff Monitored Programme. A vital first step. You need the IMF, we need the IMF. We all live in an interconnected world. I urge the Government to publish the programme soon so that civil society can play an active part in achieving its targets. The Government has demonstrated its commitment to working for economic reform. They can be justly proud of that. Let’s make it happen through open discussion and open policy making. That is the way to win popular support from the people. That is the way to increasing investor confidence and economic advancement for all.

In the anti-apartheid struggle I remember campaigning alongside MPLA comrades during the 1960s and 1970s. In Government the MPLA made sacrifices to support the struggle of the African National Congress for freedom in South Africa. The MPLA has an honourable history as a liberation movement. It faced almost impossible odds when it took over a country ruined first by colonialists, and later by UNITA’s foreign-backed subversion, invasion and brutal war. Despite this the MPLA government managed to implement new and bold health and education policies from which so many Angolans benefited. But somewhere along the way, something went badly wrong.

We must build a new future. And look at what the result could be. Not a country bled dry by war and poverty and corruption. But one of the great African states. You have the oil, the diamonds. You have the agricultural potential. Luanda could be as big in the international trading market as Pretoria, Lagos or Nairobi. It is long past time that you took your place with them.

CONCLUSION

I speak today as a friend of Angola. And it is the duty of a true friend to speak honestly. I am determined to make a difference. I care about Angola because when I see the future of peace, I see a country, which could be the breadbasket of Southern Africa, feeding not just its own people but many millions of others. I see a country of great beauty with a people of great ability and potential. I see a country of enormous wealth that could be a powerhouse in Africa. An African Lion that could help make Africa roar with success. Instead of an Angola of war and poverty and corruption, I have a vision of an Angola in which human rights, social justice, democracy and prosperity for all flourish.

Let us pledge ourselves to realise that vision.

Let us all join together – you, I, your African brothers and sisters, the international community – in a rising chorus demanding peace and a new beginning.