José Eduardo dos Santos

In June 1975, dos Santos became coordinator of the MPLA's Department of Foreign Affairs; he also coordinated the MPLA's Department of Health at this time. Upon Angolan independence in November 1975, the MPLA held power in Luanda, but the new MPLA government faced a civil war with the other political formations, the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) and the National Liberation Front of Angola (FNLA). The same year, Dos Santos was appointed as Angola's first Minister of Foreign Affairs upon independence, and in this capacity he played a key role in obtaining diplomatic recognition for the MPLA government in 1975–76. At the MPLA's First Congress in December 1977, Eduardo dos Santos was re-elected to the Central Committee and Politburo. In December 1978, he was moved from the post of First Deputy Prime Minister in the government to that of Minister of Planning.[5]

Dos Santos (fifth from the left) at the Brandenburg Gate during a 1981 state visit, with East German officials

After the death of Angola's first president, Agostinho Neto, on 10 September 1979, José Eduardo dos Santos was elected president of the MPLA on 20 September 1979, and he took office as President of Angola, and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces on 21 September. He was also elected as President of the People's Assembly on 9 November 1980.[5]

The biggest issue he had to cope with was the ongoing conflict with the main rival liberation movement, the National Union for the Total Integration of Angola (UNITA). UNITA, led by Jonas Savimbi and supported by South Africa and the United States, never fully recognized the legitimacy of MPLA as the ruling government of Angola and triggered several armed conflicts over the years to express its opposition. The resulting 27-year civil war ravaged the country and the Angolan economy.

The war was also marked by intense foreign intervention, since the Soviet Union and Cuba backed the MPLA government and the US and South Africa supported UNITA as a way to limit the expansion of Soviet influence in Africa.[12]

On 29 and 30 September 1992, after 16 years of fighting that killed up to 300,000 people, elections were held in Angola, under United Nations supervision.[13] José Eduardo dos Santos won the election against his main rival, Jonas Savimbi (49.57% vs. 40.07%).[14] However, as he had not reached the absolute majority, a second round would have been necessary for his becoming the constitutional president. This second round never took place, as UNITA declared it did not recognize the election. A three-day war then started, during which the Halloween Massacre occurred, when tens of thousands of UNITA protestors were killed nationwide by MPLA forces. Savimbi then decided to give up on the elections, alleging voting fraud, and immediately resumed the civil war. Meanwhile, dos Santos remained in office.

In 1993, while Savimbi and UNITA refused to give up territory won through battle, the United States, involved in settling peace talks between the two rival parties and leaders in order to work out a power-sharing arrangement, decided to withdraw their support from UNITA and officially recognize dos Santos and the MPLA government as the official ruling body in Angola.[14]

The death of UNITA's leader Jonas Savimbi in February 2002 enabled the resumption of peace process. On April 4, the Angolan army and the rebels agreed to a ceasefire, and peace was officially declared on August 2.[15] While recognized as an official political party by the Angolan government, UNITA agreed to demobilize its armed forces, made up of 50,000 fighters, and agreed for them to be integrated into the national security forces.[16] Following that decision, the UN Security Council reopened United Nations offices in Angola and authorized the United Nations Mission in Angola (UNMA), aimed at consolidating peace in the country.[17]

Dos Santos in 2003 with the President of Brazil, Lula da Silva

Dos Santos with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev whilst the latter was on a state visit to Angola on 26 June 2009

In 2001, dos Santos announced that he would step down at the next presidential election.[18] However, in December 2003 he was reelected as head of the MPLA[19] and no further presidential election took place, despite these being announced for 2006,[20] then 2007, and finally 2009.[21] After a legislative election in 2008 in which the ruling MPLA won a landslide victory, the party started working on a new constitution that was introduced early in 2010. Under the terms of the new constitution, the leader of the party with the most seats in Parliament automatically becomes the president of the country.

José Eduardo dos Santos reportedly escaped an assassination attempt on 24 October 2010 when a vehicle tried to intercept his car as he was returning from the beach with his family. His escort opened fire killing two passengers in the vehicle, and weapons were found on board.[22] This incident has not been confirmed by any other source. In February–March 2011, and then again in September 2011, demonstrations against dos Santos were organized in Luanda by young Angolans, mostly via the Internet.[23]

In the 2012 general election, his party, the MPLA, won more than two-thirds of the votes. As dos Santos had been the top candidate of the party, he automatically became president, in line with the constitution adopted in 2010.

In September 2014, José Eduardo dos Santos announced the end of the cumulation of the position of provincial governor with provincial first secretary of the MPLA. This measure aimed to improve the operation of the provincial administration and the municipal administrations, as a way to adjust the governance model to a new context and bigger demand for public services.[24]

As President, dos Santos continued the task of economic and political reconstruction begun by his predecessor.

In the early 1990s, dos Santos progressively abandoned the Marxist ideology and established a liberalised free-market economy in Angola, setting the country on the path to becoming sub-Saharan Africa's third largest economy,[25] following South Africa and Nigeria, the second largest African oil producer and a top destination for foreign investment in Africa.[26][27]

In November 2006, dos Santos cofounded the African Countries Diamond Producers Association, an organization of approximately 20 African nations founded to promote market cooperation and foreign investment in the African diamond industry.[28]

José Eduardo dos Santos's role in the development of the oil sector was praised in London, during the opening of the first annual world conference to support the national business sector, which was held in October 2014. The name of the Angolan President was hailed for his commitment in the integration of the national entrepreneurship in the sector and staff training, as well as for his incentive towards young people's training in technical areas, namely in Petroleum Engineering.[29]

The role of the President José Eduardo dos Santos, in the growth of the Angolan economy, was the topic of a lecture held on August 28. The Angolan economist José Pedro de Morais, the lecturer, stressed the various pragmatic steps taken by the Angolan Head of State, in all stages of the complex context of the country. According to the speaker, President Jose Eduardo dos Santos has always had to solve complex problems in the leadership of the country's destiny, ranging from war to the pacifying of the spirits of citizens and through economic and political stabilization.[30]

Dos Santos announced on 11 March 2016 that he planned to retire in 2018. This timetable would mean that he would leave office after the next election, scheduled for 2017.[31][32] In December 2016, the MPLA chose João Lourenço, the Minister of Defense and Vice-President of the MPLA, as the party's top candidate and therefore its presidential candidate for the 2017 election, indicating that dos Santos would step aside prior to 2018.[33] Dos Santos stated on 3 February 2017 that he would leave office following the election later in 2017, with Lourenço slated to succeed him. However, he was to remain in his post as President of the MPLA and was therefore expected to continue playing a key role at the top of Angolan politics through the leadership of the ruling party. The fact that his children Isabel dos Santos and José Filomeno dos Santos held key economic posts—Isabel heading Sonangol and José Filomeno heading the Fundo Soberano de Angola—also suggested that dos Santos for some time retained considerable influence.[34]

Dos Santos has been accused of leading one of the most corrupt regimes in Africa by ignoring the economic and social needs of Angola and focusing his efforts on amassing wealth for his family and silencing his opposition, while nearly 70% of the population lives on less than $2 a day.[35]

Dos Santos became wealthy when he first took power, but only began amassing his incredibly large assets during and after the Angolan civil wars. When the ceasefire occurred and large portions of the economy were being partially privatized, he took control of several emerging companies and industries. He helped arrange similar takeovers of several other natural resource industries.[36]

Eventually the Angolan Parliament made it illegal for the president to have financial holdings in companies and organizations. In response to this, Dos Santos supposedly began arranging for his daughter to receive the financial kickbacks and assets from these companies. Dos Santos then began using the government to take direct control of stakes in companies offered as kickbacks which he indirectly controlled and reaped the benefits of and managed to retain large corporate assets through proxies.[36]

In what has become known as the Luanda Leaks, a vast network of more than 400 banks, companies and consultants was revealed to have engaged in money-laundering for the dos Santos family.[37] Among others, these include firms such as Banco BIC, founded by dos Santos family billionaire associate Américo Amorim, Boston Consulting Group, McKinsey & Company and PwC, Eurobic as well as a shell company called Athol Limited.[38]

According to Angolan media reports, Brave Ventures, a firm run by Swiss art dealer Yves Bouvier, was also implicated in money-laundering activities in its role as a subcontractor for a French consulting firm tasked by dos Santos to oversee the development of the public health system.[39][40]

Along with this, the government budget had grown over a decade to 69 billion dollars in 2012 through oil revenues. The International Monetary Fund reported that 32 billion in oil revenue simply went missing from the government's ledger before being tracked to have been used on "quasi-fiscal activities".[36]