About 14-million Angolans at home and abroad will vote on August 24 in probably the tightest, tensest race since the first multiparty election in 1992. Government passed a law in 2021 to centralise the final vote counting from all stations at home and abroad in the capital Luanda, a system that has raised fears about voter fraud. The government controls most local media. Civil society groups want votes to be counted where they are cast and not in Luanda. There will be 2,000 Angolan and at least 50 international observers keeping an eye on the polls, but in a country twice the size of France they will be stretched. President João Lourenço of the MPLA is seeking a second five-year term but main opposition party Unita looks increasingly popular. An Afrobarometer survey in May showed the proportion of Angolans favouring Unita, led by Adalberto Costa Júnior, rose from 13% in 2019 to 22%, seven points behind the MPLA. The survey found that nearly half the voters were still undecided.
SOURCE: BUSINESS DAY LIVE