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Legal Gazettes as Historical Roadmaps for Researching the Cooperative Movement in Angola

Jornais oficiais como roteiros históricos para pesquisa do movimento cooperativo em Angola
Les journaux officiels, des guides pour la recherche sur le mouvement coopératif en Angola
Brad Safarik

Abstracts

This text recounts experiences of engaging with Angolan state authorities and institutions during fieldwork when researching the state’s role since independence in devising strategies to govern its vast rural areas and its peoples. A central pillar of this strategy consisted in the construction of a nation-wide attempt at developing a corporatist cooperative sector. The goals were two-fold: it would channel much needed resources to the rural economy through a state-led agricultural sector as well as providing structures of political oversight and control over the rural workers. The outbreak of civil war impeded much of the initial plans, yet the strategy progressed nevertheless. The research project therefore focused on exploring the origins of the cooperative sector. In conducting this historical research, one of the main primary sources of documentation and analysis was the government’s legal gazettes. A main mission of the fieldwork became the identification and location of these documents pertaining to the cooperative movement. The task was made difficult as Angola’s legal gazettes are not accessible to the public in any centralised manner and existing online databases are incomplete.
Given the circumstances, accessing the documents would require going through public officials. The research was conducted in a specific period of authoritarian decompression, led by a corporatist regime that had been consolidating its power and influence nationwide in the two decades following the end of the civil war in 2002. The research project progressed significantly by gaining access to primary documentation through both public and private institutions, as well as securing informal semi-direct interviews with key officials. The relative success of the fieldwork provides a blueprint for accessing different sources of documents in Angola and the measured openness of the regime to researchers probing its institutions for research purposes. In the end, the documents unearthed during the archival research demonstrated the extent to which the cooperative sector in Angola had been politicised since its conception. Contextualising this political experiment provides the value of the present research as it gives important historical insight into how the cooperatives’ trajectory ultimately undermined their current form, character, and efficiency.

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Data related to this article
1. Angola’s
Diário da República collection
1.1 Online resources
The official online archive of the Diário da República is the website of the publisher, Imprensa Nacional: https://www.imprensanacional.gov.ao.
However, the Imprensa Nacional website is unreliable as the web page is often inoperative, as are other official sites of the Angolan government. In February 2024, the last successful archiving of the site on web.archive.org was in October 2020 (subsequent archiving only led to error pages on the site). See:
https://web.archive.org/web/20240000000000*/http://www.imprensanacional.gov.ao;
https://web.archive.org/web/20201031075551/http://imprensanacional.gov.ao/​
Despite this, soft copies and sub-collections, often incomplete, can be found at various sites, as detailed in the article (Box 1. Where to find the Diário da República online?)
1.2. Physical archives
Imprensa Nacional Angola. Rua de P. Furtado, Luanda, Angola.
Tel. +244 222 336.
Coordinates: 8°49'05.5"S 13°13'28.7"E [geo:-8.8181999,13.2246468]
Direct access to any governmental institutions in Angola first requires an official letter detailing the request.

2. Other resources used in the history of cooperativism in Angola
2.1 Online resources
Development Workshop online library and archives: https://dw.angonet.org
2.2 Physical archive
O Arquivo Nacional de Angola. Estrada Direita do Camama, Belas, Angola.
Tel. + 244 222 333 512
https://ana.gov.ao/​Institucional.
Coordinates: 8°57'44.3"S 13°15'27.7"E [geo:-8.9622959,13.2576955]
Direct access to any governmental institutions in Angola first requires an official letter detailing the request.
A Confederação das Associações de Camponeses e Cooperativas Agro-Pecuárias de Angola. Rua Major Kanhangulo, 146 - 1º Andar, Luanda, Angola
Tel. +244 938 302 794
https://www.facebook.com/​UNACAparaCamponeses [archive]
Coordinates: 8°48'43.7"S 13°14'10.1"E [geo:-8.81214,13.2361279]

3. Documents presented in this article
“Legal gazettes as historical roadmaps for researching the cooperative movement in Angola. Documents presented in the article.”
https://doi.org/​10.34847/​nkl.3053qq4r
Contains 6 documents (letters, archive document) shown in this article and their transcript.

Introduction

1Authoritarian regimes bring together a unique set of boundaries and limits requiring careful navigation during fieldwork. With access to many officials and institutions restricted, dogged concentration on resources made available can open new doors and new ideas. I had come to Angola in 2017 to enquire about the historical role of the previously socialist state (1975–92) in mobilising and organising the vast rural workforce and how rural development policies were integrating (or not) the country’s vast peasantry. A political economy approach was chosen as patterns of resource allocation and deprivation provide the central analytical indicator to observe development models deployed into rural spaces (Kahl 2006, 16). The history of the peasant associations and cooperatives became a central focus of the study as they represented the principal means of organising the rural workforce into social and economic units. Was the organisation of the peasantry into cooperatives a spontaneous act of self-interested actors? Was it coerced by a socialist government keen to control one of the country’s most important assets? Which official documents could confirm the nature of the origins of the cooperative movement? I quickly discovered that confirming information from officials on this topic would be as challenging as finding traces of Luanda’s agricultural colonial origins behind its peeling façades of modernity. In pursuing these questions, I engaged with three different public institutions, O Arquivo Nacional de Angola (the National Archives of Angola), A Imprensa Nacional (the National Printing Press) and A Confederação das Associações de Camponeses e Cooperativas Agro-Pecuárias de Angola (UNACA, the Confederation of Associations of Peasants and Agro-livestock Cooperatives of Angola). This article will first describe the particular social and political context wherein this fieldwork took place. Secondly, it will demonstrate the importance of legal gazettes in understanding the evolution of the administrative state and detail how these documents were procured. Finally, it will detail how the fieldwork combined human and documentary sources from a number of public and private institutions to unearth novel documentation regarding the origins of Angola’s cooperative movement.

Conducting fieldwork in inhospitable terrain

  • 1 . The MPLA was one of three liberation movements that fought against the Portuguese in the 1960s an (...)
  • 2 . The United States initially supported the FNLA before quickly throwing its support behind UNITA u (...)

2The degree of hesitancy and pushback against a research project largely correlates with the perception of the sensitivity of the subject matter being investigated and who is asking questions. My personal case as a Portuguese-speaking American studying in France provoked contradictory responses to my requests in the field. On the one hand, most people that received me appeared genuinely interested in hearing my enquiries and processed my requests. On the other hand, I was accused of lying about my research by an official at UNACA where I had focused much of my initial energy upon arriving, insinuating that I was there for dubious purposes. This discrepancy distils the political environment in Angola as it transitions from being controlled by an authoritarian, war-time regime towards the establishment of social and political stability. The latter, combined with a relatively prosperous economic boom in the 2000s, has contributed to an “authoritarian decompression” as described by Bayart (1991, 11–12) and Médard (1991, 42). The suspicions regarding my project were likely grounded in the memories of the United States’ involvement against the MPLA (Movimento Popular pela Libertação de Angola) during the civil war.1 As early as July 1975 (a few months before the declaration of independence), the CIA launched a covert CIA programme called “Operation IAFEATURE” that supported the MPLA’s enemies before finally reconciling with the winning party.2 In reality, these suspicions were part of a much broader, systemic feature of Angola’s government as it was considered “amongst the most inhospitable and restrictive for the conduct of research in present-day Africa” (Soares de Oliveira 2015, 21) at the time of my fieldwork.

3Angola’s regime has long been classified as authoritarian due to the overbearing executive power of the presidency, itself a legacy of Salazar’s colonial strategies and the military culture of the long civil war (1975–2002). Historically, Angola’s modern authoritarianism has its roots in the legacy of Portugal’s strict colonial social hierarchy, solidified through the 1899 Statute of the Portuguese Natives of the Provinces of Angola, Mozambique and Guinea. The dominant characteristic of Portuguese colonial rule was autocracy, with colonial officials dictating orders between the invented social categories, abolished in 1961, from the lowest social strata of indígena (native), comprising the vast majority of the population, to the rare assimilados (assimilated) and the white colonos (settlers) (Havik 2013, 177, 182, 220). In the colonial era, authority referred to a specific conceptual account of supposedly legitimate authority on the idea that the Portuguese had “a right to rule.” This authority had created a permission structure to issue commands, make rules, and coerce others to comply with orders, supported by a bureaucratic apparatus and held in place through violence or threats of violence.

  • 3 . Concept attributed to Braudel (1949) and Chabod (1951). Refers to the study of states’ behaviour (...)

4This supposed right to rule was exercised and justified on moral grounds for the good of the colonial enterprise, though oftentimes it existed without the compliance of the subjects under rule (Christiano 2020). The manifestation of authoritarian colonial power cemented itself during the reign of António de Oliveira Salazar (1932–68) and his Estado Novo (1933–74). The state-led colonial governing model relied upon a delicate balance of native forced labour, a dependence on foreign capital and companies, and the social control of the local populations and colonisers alike. With time, pressure, and persistence, this combination seemed to bear considerable fruit as exports in 1974 were valued at nearly US$1 billion (Steiner 1977, 27). Yet, Salazar’s vision of deepening this Colonial Pact into the future could not foresee the groundswell of profound forces3 bubbling up among his colonial subjects. The same brutal forces exploiting the labour force that built up Angola’s extraverted economy eventually led to the breakdown of the entire colonial project as those same workers rebelled in protest during the Baixa de Cassanje revolt, identified as one of the trigger points leading to the Revolutionary War of Angola (de Grassi 2015).

  • 4 . The “socialist” nature of the regime was ratified in October 1976 by the first Congress and was t (...)

5Post-independence, the modernised version of these authoritarian influences took on a distinctly territorial character, converging around the urbanised creole bloc of officials from the MPLA that had been previously assimilated into the colonial culture and heavily influenced by Soviet ideology of centralised planning of the state (Messiant 1994, 161–62).4 Upon independence in 1975, one of the first actions taken by the “Marxist-Leninist”-inspired administration of President Agostinho Neto was the nationalisation of the country’s resources. This decision projected the state’s power, symbolically at first and then physically for certain areas, directly into the intimate lives of each and every Angolan, even if they did not recognise it at the time (Darbon 2003). This effectively transformed the government into the ultimate arbitrator of land rights and land use, the most valuable asset of rural and urban populations alike, thereby triggering a major process of state-building on a scale it never could have done otherwise due to its own structural shortcomings.

6The transition to independence triggered a civil war (itself fuelled by the Cold War conflict) that would eventually consolidate around the MPLA fighting against its rural-based rival, the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA, União Nacional para a Independência Total de Angola). The MPLA would seek to impose its own version of nation-building on a fractured population. Its vision was based on a historical discourse of nationalism that eschewed ethnic identities as “tribalism” that served to divide national cohesion, whereas “the tribe was seen as internally homogenous and associated with ‘traditional’ rural Africa” (Brinkman 2003, 197). The great regional diversity of Angola’s populations was rhetorically reduced to its perceived essence as a homogenous group inherently attached to its traditions. From this perspective, rural populations became essentialised and stood in contrast to the urban, modernist directions of the new, aspiring state apparatus. This categorised rural populations as a burdensome opposition to the major plans of a socialist revolution and national modernisation. The first multiparty elections organized in 1992 did little to change the nature of the regime as the two warring parties were unable to find a political solution. Instead, the two groups returned to intensified warfare and moved the country toward an “electoral autocracy” (V-Dem Institute 2023, 34). The killing of UNITA’s leader in 2002 put an end to the war and allowed the MPLA to unilaterally impose its vision for the country’s reconstruction. The point of departure of my PhD project was precisely to unravel the historical relationship between the government and its rural populations, particularly as it developed after the war. Since independence, what vision did the MPLA proclaim for the countryside and how has that vision evolved since? What role has the government envisioned for the rural population within its larger development plans for the rural economy? These main questions guided this research project that led to a focus on the cooperative sector.

7The necessity for the ruling MPLA to renew its legitimacy after the war led to a certain decompression in public life. Civil society organisations were given more space to manoeuvre, public criticism of elites became more commonplace, and the privatisation of telecommunications diversified sources of information (Orre 2010; Pearce, Péclard and Oliveira 2018). As a result of this decompression, some government agencies and officials have become more accessible for research purposes, though the amount of data and quality of information is often diligently guarded by gatekeepers. Gatekeeping is understood here as the process of how people “in positions of authority within the ruling party or in public office control access to resources and opportunities in order to forward their own political and economic ends” (Beresford 2015, 3). For our purposes, resources and opportunities being gatekept are information regarding the governance of rural areas and access to official documentation about land and labour regulations more broadly, both valuable commodities that are perceived by the government as deserving of extraordinary safeguards. Following implicit or explicit orders to withhold certain pieces of information, gatekeepers can impose their authority to disrupt, obstruct, or otherwise influence research projects deemed worthy of interference. Information can be protected on the orders of officials higher in the administration or by the lower-level administrator tasked with the key responsibility of being the point of contact for public relations. Which gatekeeping strategies would thus impact my research project investigating the government’s reconstruction plans for the countryside? Given the politically charged historical relationship of the government and its governing of rural spaces, I anticipated that my research questions could arouse tension among the officials I sought to encounter. In this paper, I illustrate the empirical imperatives of diversifying sources of information in order to overcome obstacles set in my path.

The epistemological power of legal gazettes

  • 5 Also known as national gazettes or government gazettes.

8The lengthy civil war in Angola led to important gaps in data collection over the years. One pivotal source of documentation that is made relatively available to better understand the organisation and functions of state institutions is a country’s official legal gazette.5 Official gazettes “are primary sources of law published by national governments to disseminate new legislation, regulations, and decisions of government bodies” (Library of Congress, n.d.). For researchers looking to understand the structure of the administrative state where civil law prevails, such as Angola, these documents are “usually the only source for authoritative texts of legislation until updated codes are printed, which in some cases takes a considerable length of time” (Roberts 1981, 1). As an official primary source of information, these documents embody the medium through which national governments speak of their public policy directions to their domestic audience and the broader international community.

9Though rarely applied to the letter of the law, the official gazette distinguishes its usefulness to researchers through the definitive character of the laws decreed, imposing specific directions as to the form and organisation of the administrative state going forward. This allows researchers a strong base to anchor their analyses of state-building and administrative evolutions. By presenting a clear timeline of the historiography of state-building in Angola, these documents serve the essential purpose of providing key historical signposts, stamping moments in time with an array of information that reveals what the government and its actors were focused on at the time, where their energy was being directed, and what future visions of state-making they planned. Researchers can then situate and contextualise the dates of official announcements, court decisions, international agreements, as well as specific decrees, laws, and protocols around broader events and influences affecting the country and vice versa. Jean Allman (2013, 104–29) calls the use of such an array of documents the “shadow archives” that reveal the “hidden corridors” of history.

10The decisions contained within the legal gazette take on the power to move bureaucracies, shape power relations, and shift resources throughout the country. While the analysis of black-letter law provides precise detail about the administrative state, one must also be conscious of the spirit of the time, the people and the institutions behind the redaction of the laws themselves (Montesquieu 1748). According to Helmke and Levitsky (2004, 726), focusing too much on formality “risks missing much of what drives political behaviour and can hinder efforts to explain important political phenomena.” In Angola, where much government activity remains hidden in the shadows (Soares de Oliveira 2015, 21), a strong focus must remain on deviance from formality. Studying these degrees of separation to which government actions stray from the law as written in the gazettes provides a prime analytical entry point into the functioning of the state. A qualitative analysis between the official announced intentions of the state and their manifestations in reality allows better measurement of the gap between the two, thereby identifying and exploiting specific openings. These entry points can be further explored via supplementary interviews, rereading key texts through different prisms, and sourcing new materials. This research methodology seeks to provide a roadmap for a more complete understanding of the internal ideologies and mechanisms that motivated the Angolan state as the ruling MPLA sought to promote a cooperative movement among the rural populations upon independence and its actions since.

11In Angola, this legal gazette is currently known as the Diário da República. It is published by the Imprensa Nacional (the National Printing Press) in Luanda, which was founded in 1845 by the Portuguese colonial administration (Ministry of Finance 2020, 23). The official bulletins announcing colonial laws were printed between 1 July 1967 and 10 November 1975 under the title Diário do Governo, after which they became known as the Diário da República Popular de Angola before settling on the current title of Diário da República. Today the Imprensa Nacional produces all the government’s official documents including legislation, reports, studies, and school textbooks. The gazette is printed in three different series: Series I deals with laws and acts passed by the People’s Assembly, presidential decrees and orders, and ministerial decrees, orders and notices; Series II concerns government appointments and personnel notices; Series III provides information on the reports and notices of State-Owned Enterprises (SOE) as well as articles of incorporation and other notices of private companies (Roberts 1985, 7).

  • 6 . At the time of writing this article, the website has been down. Access attempted 28 June 2023, 4 (...)

12The Diário da República gazette can be found in multiple locations across the internet, but the endless pages of laws, decrees and protocols are scattered across multiple sources. In a recent study of over 204 different polities across the world, Nishikawa-Pacher and Hamann (2023 311) found that Angola was part of a group of 25 countries (12% total) that have no publicly available official legal databases (OLD). This group includes other ex-Portuguese colonies such as Cape Verde, Equatorial Guinea, and São Tomé & Príncipe. The principal site of the Imprensa Nacional that publishes the Diário da República is unreliable as the web page is often inoperative, as are other official sites of the Angolan government.6 The multiple sources publishing the Diário da República is itself demonstrative of the value these documents hold in understanding, analysing and decrypting the actions of the Angolan state. Nevertheless, access to these documents is arbitrary and requires either a stroke of luck finding sought-after decrees on a tertiary website or learned patience reading through the long series of documents posted within the few large databases that exist online.

Box 1. Where to find the Diário da República online?

A simple Google search for “Diário da República” + “Angola” brings back 466,000 results. Some of the main thematic sites include (all websites accessed 8 Oct. 2023):
• For rural development and land issues:
FAOLEX database.
https://www.fao.org/​faolex/​country-profiles/​general-profile/​en/​?iso3=AGO [archive]
• For general legislation:
LEXLINK.
https://www.lexlink.eu/​informacao-juridica-de-angola/​angola [archive]
• For laws related to the environment:
ECOLEX.
https://www.ecolex.org/​result/​?type=legislation&xcountry=Angola [archive]
• For laws relating to labour issues:
NATLEX.
https://www.ilo.org/​dyn/​natlex/​natlex4.countrySubjects?p_lang=en&p_country=AGO [archive]
• Legislation on intellectual property:
World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
https://www.wipo.int/​wipolex/​en/​legislation/​members/​profile/​AO [archive]
• General legislation:
Audiconta.
https://audiconta-angola.com/​legislacao/​indices-diario-republica-angola/​
Gazette Africa.
https://gazettes.africa/​search/​?q=angola&jurisdiction=Angola&doc_type=Gazette [archive]
Library of Congress. https://guides.loc.gov/​law-angola [archive]
Angola Forex.
https://angolaforex.com/​category/​diario-da-republica/​ [archive]
Governo de Angola.
https://www.governo.gov.ao/​documentos/​decreto-presidencial [archive]

13Cognisant of the importance of legal gazettes in informing a state-centered analysis on rural development schemes, part of my fieldwork strategy sought to complement the information they provided by probing several institutions key to the cooperative sector in order to see what additional details I could unearth. Having a broad-ranging approach allows for maximum engagement of institutions, which in turn provides alternative routes of enquiry and penetration once the initial contacts have been made. Some of my sources would lead me to further legal gazettes that would prove pivotal to a clearer understanding of the foundations of the cooperative movement. Here below I will describe the experiences of interacting with the National Archives of Angola, UNACA, and the National Printing Press.

Piecing together the history of cooperativism

14My first attempt at sourcing documentation was with the Arquivo Nacional de Angola (National Archive of Angola). The National Archive contains a rich collection of colonial history from the 18th to the 20th century that have resided in Angola despite norms that should have sent them to Portugal’s Arquivo Histórico Ultramarino (AHU) (Dulley 2017, 232). As is the case for most countries across the world, direct access to any governmental institutions in Angola first requires an official letter detailing the request. The National Archives followed the same protocol. The initial letter of request was written directly from me to the head of the archives and was not on an official letterhead. It outlined my interest in studying the evolution of the peasantry through a socio-economic lens and the role of the colonial period. The letter was approved four days after its submission.

Document 1: Access request letter to National Archives of Angola

Document 1: Access request letter to National Archives of Angola

Source: Author.
Persistent identifier: https://doi.org/​10.34847/​nkl.3053qq4r.
Download transcript and English translation (ODT format [10 KB], RTF format [65 KB]).

Transcript

Brad Safarik
Rua ■■■,
Mutamba, Angola
tél 992 ■■■■■■
email ■■■■■■@gmail com
Exmo. Diretor
Arquivo Nacional Histórico de Angola
Rua Pedro Félix Machado
Luanda, Angola

Luanda, 16 Julho, 2017
Exmo. Diretor,
Meu nome é Brad Safarik, doutorando en Ciências Políticas no Instituto de Estudos Políticos da Universidade de Bordéus (França), trabalhando em colaboração com o Centro de Estudos e Investigação Cientifica da Universidade Católica de Angola (CEIC). De nacionalidade Americana e portador do passaporte ■■■■■■■, emitido aos ■■■■■■■ de 2017, válido até ■■■■■■■ de 2027, estou efectuando trabalhos de campo da minha pesquisa com o apoio financiero do Instituto de França África do Sul (IFAS).
Minha pesquisa, actualemente no segundo ano, tem como ponto analítico fulcral as dinâmicas sócio-políticas confrontando a sociedade rural angolana e a evolução histórica das diferentes organizações sociais criadas para responder aos desafios, sobretudo na província de Huila. O desenvolvimento económico e social dos camponheses rurais representa o interés principal do estudo. Durante minha estadia em Angola, estou entrevistando os atores ligados à pesquisa e visitando algumas ONGs, associções e cooperativos para recolher mais informação sobre a área.
Lhe estaria muito agradecido se pudesse ajudar-me na realização do meu estudo com acceso ao Archivo Nacional para recolhar informação importante sobre a organização social das comunidades rurais e a evolução histórica das organizações sociais no mundo rural durante a época de colonialização e depois.
A ajuda do Arquivo Nacional Histórico de Angola me seria muito importante, mtre outros, para o aprofundamento do meu objeto de estudo, por iso mesmo indispensável.
Agredeço antecipademente a compreensão e colaboração para a boa realização desta pesquisa.
Atensiosamente,
Brad Safarik

Translation

Esteemed Director,
My name is Brad Safarik, a doctoral student studying Political Science at the Institute of Political Studies in Bordeaux (France), working in collaboration with the Center of Scientific Studies and Investigation (CEIC) of the Catholic University of Angola. As an American national holding the passport ■■■■■■■, delivered on the ■■■■■■■ 2017 and valid until the ■■■■■■■ 2027, I am currently working on the fieldwork of my dissertation with the financial support of the French Institute of South Africa (IFAS).
My study, currently in its second year, bases its analysis on the socio-political dynamics facing Angola’s rural society and the historical evolution of the different social organisations created to respond to their challenges, particularly in the province of Huila. The social and economic development of rural farmers represents a central interest of the study. During my stay in Angola, I am interviewing actors related to the study and visiting different NGOs, associations and cooperatives to collect more information on the area of interest. I would be very grateful if you could help me in the development of my study with access to the National Archives to collect important information regarding the social organisation of rural communities and the historical evolution of the social organizations in the rural world during the time of colonisation and afterwards.
The help of the Historical National Archives of Angola would be very beneficial, among other reasons, to deepen indispensable insight into my study.
Thank you very much for your understanding and collaboration for the proper fulfillment of this study.
Sincerely,
Brad Safarik

15Due to lack of personnel and a rich source of varied historical documents, much of the sources housed in the National Archives remained uncategorised. Over 5,000 boxes had yet to be sorted at the time of my visit in July 2017 (Dulley 2017, 233). Upon arrival, researchers can request for boxes from a list, though oftentimes little information is provided on the selection list itself. Most boxes were identified by province accompanied by a specific number. A limited quantity of the boxes had been previously sorted and did include more specific labelling details. Some of the boxes I ordered had general labels including “Caixa 163 Pasta3,” “Caixa 739 Huíla Doc no.7,” and “Caixa 179 Luanda.” These boxes contained a wide variety of documents, ranging from land cadastres, letters describing military, economic or exploratory missions, colonial reports to the mainland, and lists of imported and exported goods. Some more specific boxes pertaining to my research interests were labelled “Caixa 1621 Estatutos Cooperative Liga Angolana” and “Caixa 1621 Pasta J Liga Angolana.” If pertinent archives are unearthed, researchers can request a photocopy or a scan saved on a USB key. Each page is charged a fee that must be paid before leaving.

16The two boxes on the cooperative movement proved fruitful for my research. The original statute of the Liga Angolana was unearthed while sifting through these historical records in the Angolan National Archives in Luanda.

Document 2: Statute of Liga Angolana Cooperative

Document 2: Statute of Liga Angolana Cooperative

Date listed as December 2, 1913.

Source: Arquivo Nacional de Angola (Luanda).
Persistent identifier: https://doi.org/​10.34847/​nkl.3053qq4r.
Download transcript and English translation (ODT format [10 KB], RTF format [64 KB]).

Transcript

ESTATUTOS DA COOPERATIVA DA LIGA ANGOLANA
Capitule 1. w
Natureza, sede, fins e duração da sociedade.
Art. I - E creada, pelos presentes estatutos, uma sociedade cooperativa de consume e crédito de responsabilidade limitada, denominada Cooperativa da Liga Angolana.
Art. 2. -A sede da sociedade é em Loanda [sic].
Art. 3. Os fins da sociedade são:
I.° Fornecer aos socios efectivos da Liga, bem como aos socios extraordinarios, protetores e honorarios da mesma que são considerados aderentes, generos alimenticios e artigos de vestuario e outros;
2.° Facilitar aos socios a realisação de economias e a sua capitalisação;
3.° Facilitar aos socios, pelo credito e dentro dos limites dos presentes estatutos, os capitaes de que careçam segundo o preceituado nos artigos 54.° 55.° 56.°
Art. 4.°-A duração da sociedade é por tempo indeterminado.
Capitule 2.°
Fundo social.
Art. 5.°-O fundo social é constituidos:
I.° Por acções de 20$000 reis, pagaveis por uma só vez, ou em quotas mensaes de 5$000 reis ou de 2$000 reis;
2.° Pelas joias de admissão de socios;
3.° Pelos juros dos emprestimos;
4.° Pelo produto da venda de diplomas e estatutos;
5.° Pelo produto das multas e outras penalidades;
6.° Por uma percentagem lançada nos generos e mais artigos fornecidos aos socios e aderentes.
Art. 6.°-O fundo social divide-se em:

Translation

Statutes of the Liga Angolana Cooperative
Chapter 1
Nature, headquarters, objectives, and duration of the society.
Art. 1 – It is created, by the present statutes, a cooperative society of consumption and credit, of limited liability, denominated Cooperative of Liga Angolana
Art 2 – The headquarters of the society is in Luanda.
Art. 3 – The objectives of the society are:
I. Provide to the own members of the Liga, as well the partners, guardians, and freemen considered as adherents, alimentary goods and articles of clothing, among others;
II. Facilitate the realisation of savings and capitalisation of the members;
III. Facilitate to the members, through credit and within the limits of the present statutes, funds that are lacking according to orders in the articles 54, 55, & 56.
Art. 4. – The duration of the society is for an undetermined time.
Chapter 2
Social fund.
Art. 5. – The social fund is duly constituted:
1. By shares of $20,000 reales, paid in its entirety, once, or in monthly quotas of $5,000 reales or $2,000 reales;
2. By the admission fee of the partners;
3. By the interest of the loans;
4. By the proceeds from the sale of diplomas and statutes;
5. By the proceeds of fines and other penalties;
6. By a percentage earned in activities and other items provided to the partners and adherents.
Art. 6. - The social fund is organised by:

17Under the colonial regime, the indigenas were banned from organising themselves into associations or cooperatives, but the settlers and the assimilados had limited support of the state to organise their resources to build an endogenous economic base. After the change in government in Portugal from a monarchy to a republic in 1910, a group of assimilados led by Joaquim Dias Cordeiro da Matta founded the Liga Angolana as a means to achieve more autonomy in the daily affairs of the colony (Fish 2002, 24). The cooperative wing of the Liga Angolana, as demonstrated through this document, was part of a broader movement of a nascent “modern” Angolan nationalism that sought a stronger position for the assimilados within the political and economic spheres of the colony. The power provided by centralising resources within the cooperative was seen as a tool to advance their positions in society and improve their standards of living. Though the cooperative statute was approved in 1913, the Liga Angolana was disbanded in 1922 by the colonial regime because of supposed subversive elements within its organisation (Pélissier 1968, 52–53). Though short-lived, the cooperative movement was considered progress by the assimilados as it proved their agency in social organisation and required a counterresponse from the government to their demands for increased assistance.

18After sourcing this documentation on the colonial history of cooperatives, my next step was to focus on its evolution after independence in 1975. I set my sights on engaging the institution in charge of assisting the peasantry to form associations and cooperatives known as UNACA. I hoped to secure some quantitative data from its database regarding the historical evolution of its members. I happened to unearth the original UNACA “pre-project” statute within the archives of the NGO, Development Workshop, during my fieldwork in Luanda in 2017. Development Workshop was founded by a Canadian, Allan Cain, in 1981 as the first foreign NGO to set up operations in the country. Specialising in urban and peri-urban governance, it has amassed a considerable library and archives available to researchers upon request and a significant amount of its collection is available online.7

Document 3: Cover of the “pre-project” statute of the União nacional dos camponeses angolanos (UNACA)

Document 3: Cover of the “pre-project” statute of the União nacional dos camponeses angolanos (UNACA)

Date unknown.

Source: Archives of Development Workshop (Luanda).
Persistent identifier: https://doi.org/​10.34847/​nkl.3053qq4r.

  • 8 All translations of official documents throughout the text are done by the author from Portuguese.

19Despite the document being undated, it is assumed that it was created in 1980 (Morais and Pacheco 1991, 14). This official text outlining the statute of UNACA describes the organisation in Article 1 as a “mass organization representing the interests of the Angolan peasantry” with administrative, financial, and patrimonial autonomy from the state (Government of Angola, n.d.).8 On paper, the creation of cooperatives quickly became initially presented as separate from the government and enjoyed freedom of organisation, financial autonomy, and democratic principles of management. Later in the same document, it details the need to integrate the peasantry into the political project of the MPLA and mobilise the labour of the rural masses to lay the foundation of the socialist project. Some of the principal attributions of UNACA are then described as, “orienting the peasantry toward an active participation in the affairs of the state and more specifically within the organs of Popular Power; working to elevate the ideological-political, cultural and technical levels of the peasantry and their family members; and developing within the peasantry masses the principles of the peasant-laborer alliance, guiding them to its materialization” (Government of Angola, n.d., 2).

20The UNACA statute therefore contains an amalgam of ideologies and finalities, apparent as early as its first article. It first defines UNACA as a “mass organization” established to further the goals of MPLA in the democratic and popular revolution establishing socialism, but then claims to represent the interests of the Angolan peasantry who “voluntarily express their decision to join” (Government of Angola, n.d., 2–3). The emphasis on voluntary association is oftentimes difficult to discern in the Angolan context. The political parties have a history of actively forming and recruiting popular “mass organizations” that are neither spontaneous nor voluntary, in the pure sense of intrinsic will for civic engagement rather than being born out of pressure from self-interested political actors. These mass organisations are nearly all urban or peri-urban based, first taking form as “popular power” organisations such as resident committees (comissões de moradores) and the People’s Neighbourhood Commissions (Comissões Populares de Bairro). While they too deemed to bestow a level of autonomy on local level organisation, they were in reality façades for government control (Gastrow 2021). UNACA was the rural manifestation of this same policy of a similar practice of ambiguous “voluntary association” operating under the firm tutelage of the government.

21With this information in mind, I approached UNACA hoping to garner a clearer picture of the cooperative movement and the evolution of its manifestation at the national scale. Admittedly my request for information was ambitious as I sought a broader database of information of the number of peasant unions, associations, and cooperatives from 1960 to 2017 at both the national and provincial level. I was unaware if UNACA had any documentation from the colonial era or post-independence, which would have shown the extent to which the settlers had built up a cooperative model and how it transitioned afterwards as cooperatives were a key concern of the transitional government (Government of Angola 1975, 1). I was nevertheless convinced UNACA could provide me with at least information stemming from its initial set up in 1980. The requested quantitative statistics would have given an idea of which years were particularly robust in getting people to form associations and cooperatives as well as where this activity was taking place throughout the country. Qualitatively, it would have provided an important glimpse of the social organisation and the attempted modernisation of the country’s most important rural economic actors.

22I first prepared a personal request letter in the same manner as the one I had written to the National Archives. It was addressed directly to UNACA as an organisation, without an official letterhead. However, I was first told that the letter must be directed specifically to the president in order to be accepted. I returned days later with the modified letter directed to the president at the time, Albano da Silva Lussati. The secretary then informed me that the letter must be written by a recognised institution, and on official letterhead, instead of coming directly from me. I therefore asked my contacts at the Centro de Estudos e Investigação Científica of the Universidade Católica de Angola to prepare the official letter for me according to the requirements of Angola’s bureaucracy. This third letter met the requirements and I was told that it would be reviewed by a committee at the end of the week.

Document 4: Personal request for information letter to UNACA

Document 4: Personal request for information letter to UNACA

Source: Author.
Persistent identifier: https://doi.org/​10.34847/​nkl.3053qq4r.
Download transcript and English translation (ODT format [9 KB], RTF format [64 KB]).

Transcript

N.Ref. ■■■■■■■■■
A
Direcção Executiva da
Confederação das Associações de Camponeses e Cooperativas
Agropecuária de Angola (UNACA)
Luanda
Luanda, 21 de Julho de 2017
ASSUNTO: Solicitação de dados
Exmos Senhores,
Nossos melhores cumprimentos.
O Centro de Estudos e Investigação Cientifica da Universidade Católica de Angola (CEIC- UCAN) informa que o Senhor Dr. Bradley Alan Safarik, Investigador do Instituto de Estudos Políticos da Universidade de Bordeaux França, está a efectuar um trabalho de pesquisa sobre “A Génese de um Movimento Social Rural em Angola”.
Assim sendo, no âmbito da cooperação existente entre o CEIC-UCAN e a Universidade de Bordeaux em França, e para a conclusão do trabalho de pesquisa do Investigador acima referido, o CEIC-UCAN vem pela presente solicitar a V. Excia. que se digne autorizar o fornecimento dos seguintes dados:
– Número de sindicatos camponeses e sua evolução entre 1960-2017, por cada ano disponível a nível nacional e por província.
– Numero das associações, cooperativas entre 1960-2017, por cada disponível a nível nacional e por província.
Na expectativa de que a presente solicitação terá o melhor acolhimento, queira aceitar os protestos da nossa elevada consideração.
De V. Excelência
Atentamente
■■■■■■■■■
O director

Translation

N. Ref. ■■■■■■■■■
To
Executive Director of the Confederation of Peasants Associations and Agro-livestock Cooperatives of Angola (UNACA)
Luanda
Luanda, 21 July 2017
Re: Data request
Dear Sir or Madam,
Please receive my sincere salutations.
The Center of Scientific Studies and Investigation of the Catholic University of Angola (CEIC-UCAN) would like to notify you that Dr. Bradley Alan Safarik, a researcher from the Institute of Political Studies from the University of Bordeaux, France, is working on a research project entitled “The Genesis of a Rural Social Movement in Angola.”
Given this, within the framework of the existing cooperation between CEIC-UCAN and the University of Bordeaux in France, and to conclude the research project of the aforementioned researcher, the CEIC-UCAN hereby requests your excellency to authorise the provision of the following data sets:
– Number of farmer unions and their evolution between 1960-2017, for each year available at the national level and by province.
– Number of associations, cooperatives between 1960-2017, for each year available at the national level and by province.
In the hopes of receiving a positive response from the present request, please accept the assurances of our highest consideration.
For your excellency
Sincerely,
■■■■■■■■■
Director

23The acceptance of my formal letter took three separate visits and two weeks to conform to the bureaucratic requirements. The process afterwards necessitated multiple return trips filled with misdirection. A week later I returned to hear the verdict on my letter and was told to return the following week as the necessary members were not present to analyse the request. I returned the following week and found myself in a small, hot office with an official claiming that I was lying about the true motives of my research project, in a clear effort at intimidation. After the confrontation, I was again told to come back the following week for more information. The constant diversions and delay tactics I experienced with UNACA raised my suspicions that the issue of rural organisation was internally classified as a politically sensitive subject.

  • 9 . Here the term is preserved in Portuguese in order to avoid confusion with the English equivalent, (...)

24I decided to remain engaged with UNACA regardless of their stonewalling. This strategy did ultimately bear fruit, but in ways not originally imagined. On my next visit, I was surprisingly led into the labyrinth of hallways of UNACA and eventually found myself sitting in an impressive oak-walled office with a giant picture of the then country president, José Eduardo dos Santos, staring down. Unbeknownst to me, I was sitting in the office of the then president of UNACA, Albano da Silva Lussati. He soon came in and asked me the purpose of my visits. After my explanation, he spontaneously began speaking about the history of UNACA and its key role in the “socialist revolution” envisioned by Agostinho Neto. I quickly noted down the outlines of the speech and then sought to cross-check the information with other documentation. One major part of his speech that I had not been able to confirm was a reference to the initial decentralised structures of the state’s support of the cooperative movement at the provincial level with a Comissão Provincial de Apoio à Cooperativação (CPAC, Provincial Commission for Cooperative Support) and a município9 level with the Comissão Municipal de Apoio à Cooperativação (CMAC, Municipal Commission for Cooperative Support) (Lussati, interview, 2017). Previously, I had only read about the national level the Comissão Nacional de Apoio à Cooperativação (CNAC, National Commission for Cooperative Support) (Morais and Pacheco 1991, 20–21). Unable to verify this information through primary documentation, my initial fieldwork provided many answers while posing new questions.

  • 10 . The requirement of official approval was confirmed by the then-President of UNACA, Albano da Silv (...)

25My time was limited as I would be spending half of my fieldwork in Huíla Province tracing the origins of a vast rural social movement that later became known as the Land Network (Rede Terra) formed in 2001. I had hoped to meet with rural labourers and cooperatives during this time, but interviewing such actors in Angola requires official approval by the government. Without authorisation, the presence of a Western researcher would likely solicit political suspicion of the cooperative members’ activities and could potentially jeopardise their support within the UNACA sub-system of access to vital resources such as seeds, fertilisers, tools, and machinery.10 My direct access to the cooperative members was impeded by the unwillingness of UNACA officials to approve a request to visit cooperatives near Luanda or in Huíla Province. In my discussion with them, I was told by the main secretary and even the president of UNACA that they would write me a letter facilitating my access, but the letter never came despite my returning to the head office multiple times to pick it up.

26As Beresford (2015, 228) describes it, the gatekeepers’ “capacity to grant or deny access to resources and opportunities” is key to understanding power relations at the initial point of contact with public administration. In the end, my requests to UNACA were subjected to a very successful attempt at administrative stonewalling. While the motivations for withholding information access can be qualitatively different, one protecting the system itself and the other preserving their standing within it, both actions are guided by a similar logic of protection mechanisms characteristic of bureaucratic authoritarianism (Collier 2001, 94) understood in its broader sense. The act of providing access to information and data is a vital practice of resource transfer. Miscalculating this measure of control can put the administrators’ position of authority in jeopardy for their own access to resources and future opportunities. Managing and maintaining control over these spaces of engagement is an integral part of the job. In political systems where resource transfer often comes at a price, it is not surprising that information is closely guarded and kept within an insider elite. Patience and perseverance are required qualities when navigating the Kafkaesque halls of authoritarian bureaucracy.

  • 11 . Defined as “the practice whereby international scientists, typically from higher-income countries (...)

27Despite these complicated and strenuous encounters, I had focused a large part of my efforts in engaging with UNACA’s headquarter office in Luanda to see how much information on the cooperative movement I could extract given its central history in organising rural labour. This fieldwork practice is sometimes considered parachute science.11 Without previous contacts in the specific field of study and little information available on the internal functioning of UNACA, this form of resource extraction seemed necessary at the time. In order to avoid this unethical and controversial “parachutist” practice, I committed to return to Angola after completing the doctoral dissertation to share my results with the major actors and organisations that had supported my initial fieldwork. I returned with this specific goal in February 2022.

  • 12 . A notable exception is the in-depth doctoral study by Aaron de Grassi (2015) focused on the geogr (...)
  • 13 . For a review of the government programmes, see for example section 3.3 “Investing Selectively.” F (...)

28My second trip to Angola was restricted to Luanda due to Covid policies. I distributed pertinent chapters of my PhD thesis and presented my findings to Development Workshop, the national NGO Acção para o Desenvolvimento Rural e Ambiente, (ADRA, Action for Rural and Environmental Development), the agronomist Fernando Pacheco, members of the Agence Française de Développement (AFD), the Espiritanos Catholic community and more specifically Padre Pio who had previously welcomed me to his community in the Gambos. I tried to engage again with UNACA and the Ministry of Agriculture, but was rebuffed. As deep studies on rural Angola are relatively rare compared to their urban-centred counterparts, my research results were met with a mix of general interest and gratitude, but also measured pushback by the actors who had dedicated their energies to rural development issues12. The central argument of my study was that of a particularly egregious mismanagement of rural economy policies by the MPLA-led goverment. In response, the main constructive criticism I received was a lack of emphasis on the few government programmes that had been relatively successful and not focusing enough on the invaluable work of the network of non-governmental organisations providing assistance in the place of the government. Large parts of chapters four and five from my doctoral dissertation actually did indeed focus on the positive work of NGOs and civil society more broadly and many of the government programmes they mentioned were included in the larger study, though neither was a main focus of my presentation.13

The National Printing Press

29Returning to the field in 2022 with a focus on Luanda allowed for new strategies to be employed for information access by mobilising crucial knowledge and resources first obtained in 2017. In particular, important details were still missing in the initial formation of UNACA at the provincial (CPAC) and the município level (CMAC), its territorialisation, and the specific political character of the cooperative movement. I had been planning on recontacting Mr. Lussati directly to fill in some of these gaps as he had given me his personal contact information during our encounters in 2017, but he unfortunately passed away on 23 October 2021, a few months before my arrival.

30As I was recounting my experience with UNACA in the headquarters of Development Workshop, a member of the NGO recommended that I attempt to contact the Imprensa Nacional (National Printing Press) as one of the objects of my search could probably be found in the legislation published in the Diário da Républica. The happenchance of casual conversation can be one of the best tools in a researcher’s toolkit, reinforcing the importance of conducting fieldwork and the value of social interactions. Located in the Cidade Alta among the main government buildings, I approached the Imprensa Nacional with the accumulated experiences I had earned engaging with other government institutions. I knew the initial contact would be pivotal to clarify the reasons behind my request to avoid any suspicions. Likewise, I sought to enquire about the precise requirements for a formal request as my tight schedule would not allow for the same persistence developed at UNACA in 2017.

31The Imprensa Nacional is housed in an old Portuguese building located in the upper area of Luanda’s city centre. The main entrance is where the requests for documents are fulfilled: where one formulates their demand, purchases, and picks up official government documents. As my request involved historical legal gazettes, I was directed to another side entrance in the same building listed as containing the “archives” of the Imprensa Nacional. I presented myself to the secretary as a researcher focused on the historical origins of UNACA. I was specifically interested in the development of the agricultural economy and the key issue of economic diversification in Angola as recommended by the World Bank. Using the terms “economic diversification” and the “modernisation of agriculture,” I had hoped to arouse interest in the subject as they have been heavily present in contemporary political discourse. The mention of the World Bank was a deliberate strategy to elicit a more welcoming attitude by attaching its name recognition to my research requests. The secretary in the archives informed me that I would simply need to provide an official letter from myself to the institution on an official letterhead describing the information that I was seeking and my request would be examined. Given the long and frustrating process that I had already undergone with UNACA, I was unsure how this process would pan out. To my surprise, my letter was not even read. The next day I presented the letter and reminded the secretary that I had come in the previous day. He mentioned that he remembered me and, after seeing that I had the letter, simply welcomed me into the archives.

Document 5: Personal request letter to National Printing Press

Document 5: Personal request letter to National Printing Press

Source: Author.
Persistent identifier: https://doi.org/​10.34847/​nkl.3053qq4r.
Download transcript and English translation (ODT format [10 KB], RTF format [67 KB]).

Transcript

UCO
Université catholique de l'Ouest
N. Ref. ■■■■■■■■■
A
Imprensa Nacional
Luanda
Luanda. 16 de Janeiro de 2022
ASSUNTO: Solitação de documentos
Exmos. Senhores et Senhoras,
Nossos melhores cumprimentos.
A Universidade Católica do Oeste informa que o Senhor Bradley Alan Safarik, Investigador e Professor da mesma Universidade em Angers, França, está a efectuar um trabalho de pesquisa sobre “A Génese de um Movimento Social Rural em Angola”.
Assim sendo, no âmbito de cooperação entre a Universidade Católica do Oeste e o Ministério da Agricultura, e para a conclusão do trabalho de pesquisa do Investigador acime referido, solicitamos a V. Excia. que se digne autorizar o fornecimento dos seguintes dados:
– O document legal fundador do Ministério da Agricultura
– Os títulos oficiais do Ministério da Agricultura entre 1975 e 2003, incluindo os decretos (número e data) establecendo e revocando os diferentes Ministérios
– Documentação demostrando a existência da (1 ) Comissão Nacional de Apoio à Cooperativação (CNAC), (2) da Comissão Provincial de Apoio à Cooperativação (CPAC) e (3) da Comissão Municipal de Apoio à Cooperativação (CMAC).
Na expectativa de que a presente solicitação terá o melhor acolhimento, queira aceitar os protestos da nossa elevada consideração.
De V. Excelência Atentamente .
Brad Safarik. Pesquisador e Professor
3. Place André Leroy. 49008 Anger, França

Translation

UCO
Université catholique de l'Ouest
N. Ref. ■■■■■■■■■
To: National Printing Press
Luanda
Luanda, 16 January 2022
Re: Document request
Dear Sir or Madam,
Please receive my sincere salutations.
The Catholic University of the West would like to notify you that Mr. Bradley Alan Safarik, a researcher and professor from the same university in Angers, France, is working on a research project entitled “The Genesis of a Rural Social Movement in Angola.”
Given this, within the cooperation between Catholic University of the West and the Ministry of Agriculture, and in order to conclude the research project of the aforementioned researcher, we hereby request your excellency to authorise the provision of the following data:
– The legal founding document of the Ministry of Agriculture
– The official titles of the Ministry of Agriculture between 1975 and 2003, including the decrees (number and date) establishing and revoking the different ministries.
– Documentation demonstrating the existence of the (1) National Commission for Cooperative Support (CNAC), (2) Provincial Commission for Cooperative Support (CPAC), and the (3) Municipal Commission for Cooperative Support (CMAC).
In the hopes of receiving a positive response from the present request, please accept the assurances of our highest consideration.
For your excellency
Sincerely,
Brad Safarik. Researcher and professor

32Comparing this experience with the one at UNACA five years before, a couple of things stood out. The secretary of the archives was relatively young (late 30s or early 40s) compared to the otherwise older administrators (40s, 50s or 60s) I had encountered at UNACA. This younger generation of officials has grown up in a very different Angola than their elders. In this sense, generation is defined as “a group that is distinctive in any number of respects by virtue of having experienced a specific set of social, economic, technological, and/or political circumstances at a formative period in their lives” (Stoker 2014, 378). In societies that have lived through the trauma of war, the generational divide that continues to grow as the events fade into memories is a major factor for researchers to consider. A rapidly growing population points to a society emerging from these deep psychological effects of the war, but woefully under-resourced to treat the trauma and post-traumatic stress disorders that accompany civil wars (Wessells and Monteiro 2002, 11). Overall, a general sentiment of distrust was common when engaging with public officials and even certain sectors of the broader population, particularly older Angolans. Nevertheless, the ease of my access to the Imprensa Nacional could be a positive signal of a generational “decompression” in information access for future researchers. Another important difference between my first fieldwork (July-August 2017) and the second (February-March 2022) was due to the regime itself. I cannot dismiss the hypothesis that the passage from José Eduardo dos Santos presidency (1979–2017) and his successor João Lourenço (2017-this date) played a role in this sense of decompression.

33The relationship between the kind of data I sought to access and the people I requested them from should also be considered. The archives contained within the Imprensa Nacional touch upon all aspects of the administrative state, going back to the colonial era. The secretary’s responsibilities had no clear link to the questions of interest I had raised regarding UNACA, rural economic growth policies, or cooperatives. This distance and detachment from the issues at hand could also be a major factor in not putting up obstacles to information access, as his position within the system did not appear directly linked with the documentation desired. Likewise, perhaps the dry technical details laid out in the various Diário da Républica issues are deemed less worthy of such careful gatekeeping, especially considering that many (but seemingly not all) of the same documents could be found published in other areas. Nevertheless, this experience demonstrates that though the regime in Angola remains authoritarian in many respects, institutional access can be largely dependent on the gatekeeper in charge and the strategic importance of the information they control.

  • 14 . Lexlink homepage (accessed 2022): https://www.lexlink.eu/informacao-juridica-de-angola/angola [ar (...)

34Once I passed through the front door of the Imprensa Nacional archives section, I was led into the main room filled with 1990s-style computers that were all connected to an intranet program specifically designed for researching legislative documents dating back to the colonial era (O Diário do Governo). The intranet program was similar to the LexLink search engine that is available online, but had many more documents available.14 I began searching for keywords in the search engine related to the ministry of Agriculture and UNACA. Through the decades, the Ministry has changed names and acronyms numerous times, but one commonality has always been the word “agriculture.” I therefore did multiple searches and went through each page of results, beginning with “agricultura,” “UNACA” and finally “cooperative” and “cooperativismo.” The results came back with the bibliographic reference of the specific document and minimal metadata such as the document type (whether it is a protocol, decree, or dispatch), its legal reference number, the institution responsible for enacting it, and oftentimes a short description. The reference provided a link to the actual document, but the loading time was very slow and I could not multitask while it downloaded. I noted down all the references that could potentially be of interest, not knowing how long I would be allowed to stay or if I could have access again so easily.

35Within the documents stemming from this archival research, one in particular illuminated the interview I had had with the President of UNACA, Mr. Lussati, in 2017. The document describes the regulations of the Comissão Nacional de Apoio à Cooperativação (CNAC, National Commission for Cooperative Support) and its supervision over the provincial body Comissão Provincial de Apoio à Cooperativação (CPAC, Provincial Commission for Cooperative Support). CNAC was established to better coordinate actions and delineate a clearer policy of support to the country’s cooperatives to strengthen their organisation and consolidation, which “aimed for a wider participation of peasants in political and economic activities” (Morais & Pacheco 1991, 20–21). As the structures and organisations became more established over time, UNACA consolidated its powers and took over the roles of CNAC in 1990 (Oxfam/Novib 1991, 124).

36Within the same document, pages 156 to 171 describe the exact functions of the different bodies as well as confirming the existence of the local level administration with the Comissão Municipal de Apoio à Cooperativação (CMAC, Municipal Commission for Cooperative Support). Taken together, these bodies were designed as temporary supports of UNACA as it established itself throughout the country at different administrative levels. The decree directly links the operations of CNAC, CPAC and CMAC with UNACA and its national ambitions at each territorial level while providing historical time stamps on the creation of each administrative body and their precise activities. This revelatory document therefore corroborates the information obtained in my interview with Mr. Lussati that I had not been able to verify through other documents or studies. This demonstrates the value in the ardent pursuit of information access despite bureaucratic stonewalling, while also providing a clear example of the dual role that gatekeepers can play. Given the proper circumstances, they are not only tasked with restricting access to information. Rather, they are highly complex actors who can become crucial purveyors of institutional memory if the conditions of access are met according to their own unique and seemingly arbitrary requirements.

37

Document 6: Diário da República, 13 May 1989

Persistent identifier: https://doi.org/10.34847/nkl.3053qq4r
See transcript and English translation in Appendix.

38Reading into these documents provides more evidence of the corporatist strategy motivating the structuring of the cooperative movement. Within the CNAC, the Department of Organization of the Cooperative Movement has as its second priority, “orientating and controlling the structure of the cooperative movement from top to bottom[.]” (Government of Angola 1989, 158). Likewise, priority nine states that the Department seeks to “Orient, plan and control the activities of the activists and assess their popularity at the cultural, political-ideological and professional levels” (Government of Angola 1989, 159). The use of the term activists for cooperative members again paints the sector through a highly propagandistic lens as it seeks to measure its impact across the levels of society. This confirms the government’s view of farmers and peasants as inherently political actors and attributes to them complex traits beyond their economic practice, extending into the cultural, political, ideological, and professional realms.

  • 15 . Even under its new name mentioning the “cooperatives,” the institution kept using the same acrony (...)

39Furthermore, this same Diário da República announced the official constitution of UNACA under Executive Decree no. 8 of 13 May 1989 (Government of Angola 1989, 155). The date of the official statute of UNACA between 1980 and 1989 therefore remains unclear and requires further scrutiny. In addition, it is important to note that the acronym UNACA stands for the same title in both documents (União Nacional dos Camponeses Angolanos), and not for its current name Confederação das Associações de Camponeses e Cooperativas Agro-Pecuárias de Angola (Confederation of Associations of Peasants and Agro-livestock Cooperatives of Angola)15. The name was thus changed at an undetermined time after 1989. Organisationally, the 1989 document preserves the same language as the 1980 “pre-project” document, again referring to UNACA as a “Mass Organisation” designed to transmit the policies of the party and the government to the peasantry, while affirming the Soviet principles of “democratic centralism” (Government of Angola 1989, 156–57). Once again, we see the officialised fusion of party politics into the cooperative sector with attempts to integrate the rural workforce into becoming essentially an arm of the party-state.

40More recently, another legal gazette from 2015 defined members of cooperatives as “autonomous collective persons, freely constituted, of variable capital and composition and of democratic control” (Government of Angola 2015, 2960). As the civil law system reigns supreme in administrative affairs, the original UNACA status from 1989 remains operational and its text stands in stark operational contrast from the 2015 definition of cooperatives. If we compare what the UNACA constitution proposes and the actions of the different government structures tasked with accompanying the cooperative movement, we can see a clear dissonance between theory and practice as cooperativism in Angola has evolved. Rather than a project of autonomous workers guided by self and communal interest, the UNACA statute and its own legacy demarcated by CNAC, CPAC and CMAC makes it clear that it is guided by a since-abandoned socialist ideology that has nevertheless pursued centralisation of the rural workforce as the political project of an authoritarian, corporatist government. These primary documents going back to the transitional government in 1975 paint in black and white what appears ambiguous on the surface.

Conclusion

  • 16 . According to the website of the Organização Cooperativista dos Países de Língua Portuguesa (OCPLP (...)

41Purportedly the main vehicle of the government’s influence over organising rural economic activity, UNACA’s overall impact is debatable. At the time of writing this paper, UNACA claims to support 8,662 peasant associations comprising 718,325 members and 2,115 cooperatives with 275,206 members.16 However, these statistics are provided by the Organização cooperativista dos Países de língua portuguesa (OCPLP, the Cooperativist Organisation of Portuguese-speaking Countries) on a website with a copyright that expired in 2013 that does not specify the source of this information. UNACA does not publish any of its own numbers publicly. The accuracy of the OCPLP’s numbers is even more questionable as they have not changed since at least 24 September 2020 (Safarik 2020, 577). Within these statistics, registering a cooperative does not mean that it is active. Nor are the total numbers indicative of how many organisations are legalised. Furthermore, it remains unclear how much support this complex administrative hierarchy has actually provided cooperatives or if its actual purpose is a skeletal network of control and surveillance over the rural workforce.

42Reading the legal gazettes not for merely tracing the chronology of legal proclamations of the cooperative movement but more critically as a source of information regarding its ideological origins and its practical administration clearly demonstrates the intention of the government to control the sector from top to bottom and to influence the peasantry in all aspects of its social life. Beyond sociological studies that confirm similar conclusions through empirical research, this approach of analysing legal gazettes provides irrefutable evidence that these levels of control and domination were in fact written into the very foundations of government actions. We can further confirm that the institutional framework to corral these rural political forces has been a political project since independence. This strategy has been woven into the modes of rural production across the country at each territorial level, combining the national ambitions of UNACA to organise and mobilise the rural workforce with the administrative surveillance supported by CNAC, CPAC, and CMAC. A subsequent qualitative study of the CPAC and CMAC structures would clarify to what extent their likely meagre resources allowed them to fulfil their duties at the provincial and local levels during the civil war. For its part, UNACA’s closed gates and lack of publicly available information continue to sequester important qualitative and quantitative information access in order to better understand its role in Angola’s economy and society through the cooperative movement and beyond.

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Interview

Albano da Silva Lussati, President of UNACA, 14 July 2017, Luanda.

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Appendix

Transcript and English translation of Document 6: Diário da República, 13 May 1989

Source

Archives of the Imprensa Nacional (Luanda).
Download the PDF version (2.9 MB)
Download English translation (ODT format [44 BK], PDF format [240 KB])

1. Transcript. Diário da República. Órgão oficial da República popular de Angola. Sábado, 13 de Maio de 1989. I Série — N.° 18

(..)

SUMÁRIO

(…)

Ministério da Justiça

Decreto executivo n.° 8/89:
Aprova a Constituição da União Nacional dos Camponeses Angolanos, UNACA e os Regulamentos das Comissões Nacional e Provincial de Apoio ã Cooperativização, abrevia­damente CNAC e CPAC, que fazem parte integrante do presente decreto executivo.

(…)

MINISTÉRIO DA JUSTIÇA

Decreto executivo n.° 8/89 de 13 de Maio

O II Congresso do MPLA-Partido do Trabalho reafirmou a necessidade da constituição da União Nacional dos Camponeses Angolanos UNACA, como Organização de Massas que permitirá a transmissão das orientações do Partido e do Governo ao campesinato em matéria de política sócio-económica, mobilizando-o para a realização dessa política e para a transformação progressiva das relações de produção no sector agro­-pecuário, na defesa dos interesses dos camponeses.

A Comissão Nacional de Apoio à Cooperativização, bem como as respectivas Comissões Provinciais surgem assim com carácter provisório e como factor de extrema importância nesta fase embrionária do movimento cooperativo no campo até que estejam criadas as condi­ções para a existência da União Nacional dos Camponeses Angolanos;

Tendo sido aprovada pelo Secretariado do Comité Central do MPLA-Partido do Trabalho a criação da Comissão Nacional de Apoio à Cooperativização e das Comissões Provinciais e convindo dar-lhes existência legal;

Verificando-se que os Regulamentos das referidas Comissões, estão de acordo com as disposições legais em vigor;

Nos termos do artigo 62.° da Lei Constitucional, determino:

Artigo único. — São aprovados os Regulamentos das Comissões Nacional e Provincial de Apoio à Coopera­tivização, abreviadamente CNAC e CPAC, que fazem parte integrante do presente decreto executivo.

Publique-se.

Luanda, aos 16 de Fevereiro de 1988.

O Ministro, Fernando José de França Dias Van-Dúnem.

REGULAMENTO DA COMISSÃO NACIONAL DE APOIO À COOPERATIVIZAÇÃO

CAPÍTULO I. Disposições Gerais

SECÇÃO I. DEFINIÇÃO E DEPENDÊNCIA

ARTIGO 1.°Definição

A Comissão Nacional de Apoio à Cooperativização, abreviadamente designada por CNAC, é um Órgão colectivo, de carácter provisório, criado pelo Secreta­riado do Comité Central do MPLA-Partido do Trabalho, com a finalidade de orientar, enquadrar e dirigir o movimento cooperativo angolano promovendo as condições para o surgimento da União Nacional dos Camponeses Angolanos (UNACA).

ARTIGO 2.° Dependência

A CNAC depende do Secretariado do Comité Central do MPLA-Partido do Trabalho, sendo coordenado pelo Secretário para a Política Agrária.

SECÇÃO II. Atribuições e Princípios

ARTIGO 3. Atribuições

A CNAC tem, em geral, as seguintes atribuições:

a) orientar a sua acção de acordo com as orienta¬ções do MPLA-Partido do Trabalho nos domínios político, económico e social;

b) orientar e dirigir as organizações de Camponeses no cumprimento dos objectivos económicos da R.P.A. em particular no domínio da polí¬tica agrária, dos planos de produção, abastecimento e comercialização;

c) desenvolver um trabalho persistente e sistemá¬tico junto dos camponeses no sentido da sua consciencialização, mobilização e enquadra¬mento em organizações de base, tendo em vista a evolução progressiva para formas superiores de organização da produção e de consumo;

d) desencadear acções para elevar, de forma siste¬mática, o nível político, cultural e técnico dos camponesès;

e) consolidar a aliança operário-camponesa através de formas concretas de cooperação;

f) orientar os camponeses na utilização racional e correcta dos recursos financeiros e técnicos que lhes venham a ser concedidos;

g) promover campanhas de esclarecimento e de sensibilização para uma participação cada vez mais activa e consciente dos camponeses nas tarefas da defesa e da vigilância popular;

h) desenvolver a solidariedade dos camponeses para com a luta de todos os Povos do Mundo pelo progresso económico e social e pela paz;

i) promover acções de formação e superação de quadros nos vários domínios, tendo em vista a futura criação e funcionamento da UNACA;

j) dinamizar a criação das Comissões Provinciais de Apoio à Cooperativização e orientar meto¬dologicamente a sua actividade;

l) divulgar através dos Meios de Difusão Massiva e outros, as acções levadas a cabo pelos camponeses, nesta fase do seu processo de organização, nos mais diversos domínios;

m) desenvolver acções junto de organizações estran¬geiras e internacionais, vocacionadas, com vista à obtenção de apoio diverso a programas e projectos de intervenção no meio rural.

ARTIGO 4. Princípios

A CNAC norteia a sua actuação pelos seguintes prin­cípios organizativos e metodológicos:

a) disciplina rigorosa no acatamento dos princípios orgânicos e disposições estatutárias e regu¬lamentares, bem como das resoluções e directrizes dos órgãos superiores;

b) prática e estímulo do trabalho colectivo e do espírito da ajuda mútua;

c) planificação do trabalho e controlo rigoroso da sua execução;

d) ligação estreita e permanente com as Comissões Provinciais de Apoio à Cooperativização, através de informações recíprocas;

e) ligação estreita e permanente com os organismos estatais e com as organizações de Massas e Sociais.

CAPÍTULO II. Estrutura Orgânica

SECÇÃO I. ESTRUTURA CENTRAL

ARTIGO 5. Constituição

1. A Comissão Nacional de Apoio à Cooperativização (CNAC) tem a seguinte constituição:

a) Coordenador;

b) Coordenador Adjunto;

c) Conselho Consultivo;

d) Departamento de Organização do Movimento Cooperativo;

e) Departamento de Desenvolvimento Económico;

f) Departamento de Desenvolvimento Social;

g) Departamento de Administração e Serviços.

2. Quando o volume e a complexidade das tarefas o justificarem, os Departamentos poderão subdividir-se em. Secções, chefiadas por um chefe de Secção.

3. As Secções são criadas por decisão da Comissão Nacional de Apoio à Cooperativização.

ARTIGO 6.°Coordenador

1. O Coordenador da CNAC é o Secretário do Comité Central para a Política Agrária, sendo o seu responsável máximo e representando-a perante os órgãos superiores do Partido e do Estado.

2. Compete ao Coordenador:

a) dirigir, orientar e supervisionar as actividades da CNAC, respondendo perante o Secretariado do Comité Central pelo cabal desempenho das mesmas;

b) convocar e presidir às reuniões das CNAC e do Conselho Consultivo Nacional;

c) garantir a elaboração, cumprimento e controlo do plano de trabalhos da CNAC, prestando contas do seu cumprimento semestralmente, ao Secretariado do Comité Central;

d) garantir uma correcta aplicação dos métodos e princípios de direcçàrrcientífica, nomeada¬mente o centralismo democrático, a direcção colectiva e a responsabilidade individual;

e) orientar e controlar, de forma coordenada, o trabalho dos Chefes de Departamentos;

f) propor ao Secretariado do Comité Central a nomeação ou exoneração dos Chefes de Departamento, bem como nomear ou exonerar os Chefes de Secção, outros funcionários e colaboradores;

g) representar a CNAC em todos os actos e perante organismos e organizações nacionais, estrangeiras e internacionais;

h) movimentar, juntamente com o Coordenador do Departamento para a Administração e Serviços, as contas da CNAC.

ARTIGO 7.°Coordenador Adjunto

O Coordenador Adjunto apoia o Coordenador no exercício das suas funções, substituindo-o nas suas ausências ou em caso de impedimento, competindo-lhe ainda:

a) ocupar-se das questões ligadas à informação e propaganda e a divulgação das actividades da CNAC e do Movimento Cooperativo em geral;

b) estabelecer a ligação entre a CNAC e organiza¬ções congéneres estrangeiras ou interna¬cionais.

ARTIGO 8. Conselho Consultivo Nacional

1. O Conselho Consultivo Nacional é um Órgão de consulta da Comissão Nacional de Apoio à Cooperati- vização no qual estão representados, para além dos membros da CNAC, os seguintes organismos do Partido, do Estado e das Organizações de Massas e Sociais, responsáveis pela implementação das orientações do Partido sobre o desenvolvimento rural em geral e em particular sobre o movimento cooperativo:

a) Departamento de Organização do Comité Central;

b) Departamento para a Juventude e Apoio às Organizações de Massas e Sociais do Comité Central;

c) Departamento para a Política Económica e Social do Comité Central;

d) Departamento para o Sector Produtivo do Comité Central;

e) Departamento para o Sector Produtivo do Secre¬tariado Nacional da Juventude do Partido;

f) Departamento para o Trabalho Produtivo do Secretariado Nacional da O MA;

g) Ministério da Agricultura;

h) Ministério do Comércio Interno;

i) Ministério da Saúde;

j) Ministério da Educação;

k) Secretaria de Estado dos Assuntos Sociais;

l) Centro Nacional de Alfabetização.

2. Poderão integrar o Conselho Consultivo Nacional outros organismos que a CNAC venha a considerar como indispensáveis ao seu bom funcionamento.

3. Compete ao Conselho Consultivo Nacional:

a) compatibilizar e controlar a execução de pro¬gramas;

b) apoiar e emitir opiniões e sugestões que contri¬buam para o fortalecimento do movimento cooperativo no campo;

c) sensibilizar os organismos quer estatais, quer as Organizações de Massas e Sociais para a solução dos problemas dos camponeses, de uma forma coordenada e harmoniosa.

4. O Conselho Consultivo Nacional reúne ordinaria¬mente duas vezes por ano e extraordinariamente quando a CNAC o entender, por convocatória do Coordenador.

ARTIGO 9.°Departamento de Organização do Movimento Cooperativo

Compete ao Departamento para a Organização do Movimento Cooperativo:

1. orientar e controlar o enquadramento dos campo¬neses nas suas cooperativas e associações.

2. orientar e controlar a estruturação do movimento cooperativo da base ao topo, bem como apoiar as demais acções que visem a criação da União Nacional dos Camponeses Angolanos (UNACA).

3. elaborar projectos de normas e directivas sobre as questões organizativas do movimento cooperativo.

4. ocupar-se das questões organizativas do movimento cooperativo, nomeadamente a preparação e acompanha-mento das reuniões e assembleias a todos os níveis.

5. fazer os estudos e elaborar as propostas para o cres¬cimento do movimento cooperativo.

6. sensibilizar e mobilizar os camponeses organizados para as tarefas da defesa e vigilância popular, em estreita colaboração com os organismos competentes.

7. manter actualizado o ficheiro e a estatística rela¬tivos às actividades organizativas, da base ao topo.

8. propor medidas para a formação e superação de quadros.

9. orientar, planificar e controlar a actividade dos activistas e velar pela elevação do seu nível cultural, político-ideológico e profissional.

10. elaborar, de forma coordenada, o seu plano trimestral de actividades, prestando contas do seu cumprimento mensalmente à Coordenação da CNAC.

11. estudar e propor formas de melhorar a organi¬zação funcional do Departamento, desenvolvendo métodos de trabalho que permitam o aproveitamento das iniciativas e a participação activa de todos os seus componentes.

12. apoiar sistematicamente e metodologicamente as Secções Provinciais correspondentes, através de encon¬tros e visitas de ajuda e controlo periódicos.

13. cumprir outras tarefas que a CNAC determinar.

ARTIGO 10.° Departamento Para o Desenvolvimento Económico

Compete ao Departamento para o Desenvolvimento Económico:

1. orientar e coordenar todos os programas de apoio material e técnico que visam o desenvolvimento do movi-mento cooperativo no campo.

2. elaborar e submeter à aprovação da CNAC, os mecanismos mais adequados para a orientação e controlo da execução prática dos planos de produção, comercialização, abastecimento técnico-material e de apoio financeiro.

3. estudar e propor as formas mais expeditas de arti¬culação entre as estruturas económicas do aparelho do Estado vocacionadas para a intervenção no campo e as cooperativas e associações de camponeses.

4. manter estreitas relações de trabalho com os orga¬nismos do Estado, em particular com aqueles que têm acções directas na transformação e desenvolvimento das relações de produção no campo.

5. efectuar estudos e elaborar propostas e sugestões, com vista a aperfeiçoar o sistema de preços para as mercadorias destinadas à comercializaçãp no campo e para os produtos Agro-Pecuários.

6. contribuir para a utilização racional dos recursos humanos, materiais e técnicos afectos às organizações camponesas, por forma a permitir o aumento da produção e da produtividade.

7. emitir pareceres sobre os projectos de plano para o sector camponês no domínio da produção, do abaste¬cimento e dos investimentos.

8. emitir pareceres sobre os programas de ajuda económica dirigidos ao sector componês por parte de organizações internacionais e acompanhar a sua execução.

9. propor medidas organizativas e outras que permitam a integração progressiva das cooperativas e associações de camponeses na rede retalhista rural.

10. participar nas reuniões e seminários promovidos pelos organismos estatais, onde sejam tratadas questões relacionadas com a vida económica das cooperativas e associações de camponeses.

11. orientar o reforço das Comissões de Gestão e Controlo das cooperativas e associações de camponeses, com vista a um maior controlo da produção e da utili¬zação das receitas.

12. elaborar, de forma coordenada, o seu Plano trimestral de actividades, prestando contas do seu cumprimento mensalmente à Coordenação da CNAC.

13. estudar e propor formas de melhorar a organi¬zação funcional do Departamento, desenvolvendo métodos de trabalho que permitam o aproveitamento das iniciativas e a participação activa de todos os seus componentes.

14. apoiar sistemática e metodologicamente as Secções Provinciais correspondentes, através de encon¬tros e visitas de ajuda e controlo periódicos.

15. cumprir outras tarefas que a CNAC determinar.

ARTIGO 11.° Departamento Para o Desenvolvimento Social

Compete ao Departamento para o Desenvolvimento Social:

1. apoiar todas as acções que visam o desenvolvi¬mento social no meio rural em geral e, em particular dos camponeses organizados em cooperativas e associações.

2. estudar e propor as formas mais correctas de apoio social ao meio rural.

3. acompanhar e coordenar, de forma sistemática, todos os programas que visem o bem-estar social no campo, nomeadamente os programas de educação, combate ao analfabetismo, de saúde pública e de assis¬tência médica e medicamentosa e das actividades culturais.

4. emitir pareceres sobre os projectos de Plano para o sector camponês no dominio da educação, saúde, alfa-betização e outras actividades de carácter social.

5. emitir pareceres sobre os programas de ajuda por parte de organismos internacionais que visem o desen-

volvimento social do campo e acompanhar a sua execução.

6. desenvolver boas relações de colaboração e coor¬denação com os organismos estatais e de massas e sociais, de forma a aproveitar as capacidades e iniciativas destes para acções de desenvolvimento social do campo.

7. orientar o reforço das Comissões de Gestão e Controlo das cooperativas e associações de camponeses, com vista a uma intervenção e controlo mais integrado das acções sociais a levar a cabo no meio rural.

8. elaborar de forma coordenada, o seu plano trimes¬tral de actividades, prestando contas do seu cumprimento mensalmente à Coordenação da CNAC.

9. estudar e propor formas de melhorar a organização funcional do Departamento, desenvolvendo métodos de trabalho que permitam o aproveitamento das iniciativas e a participação activa de todos os seus componentes.

10. apoiar sistemática e metodologicamente as Secções Provinciais, através de encontros e visitas de ajuda e controlo periódicos.

11. cumprir outras tarefas que a CNAC determinar.

ARTIGO 12.°Departamento de Administração e Serviços

Compete ao Departamento de Administração e Serviços:

1. gerir os fundos da CNAC.

2. orientar metodologicamente a movimentação dos fundos à disposição das Comissões Provinciais de Apoio à Cooperativização e garantir a permanente utilização racional desses fundos.

3. organizar o sistema administrativo no seio da CNAC, bem como orientar e controlar periodicamente a documentação e o património da mesma.

4. fazer recebimentos, pagamentos e os respectivos lançamentos contabilísticos.

5. estudar e propor um sistema contabilístico simples para a gestão das cooperativas e associações de camponeses.

6. proceder à recepção de donativos (sem embaraços aduaneiros, de armazenamento e expedição).

7. apoiar os membros da CNAC e das Comissões Provinciais de Apoio à Cooperativização que se deslo¬quem em serviço.

8. coordenar a recepção e utilização de convites prove¬nientes de outros países e organizações internacionais,

bem como propor visitas a países amigos para troca de experiência.

9. elaborar de forma coordenada, o seu plano trimes¬tral de actividades, prestando contas do seu cumprimento mensalmente à Coordenação da CNAC.

10. estudar e propor formas de melhorar a organi¬zação funcional do Departamento, desenvolvendo métodos de trabalho que permitam o aproveitamento das iniciativas e a participação activa de todos os seus componentes.

11. apoiar sistemática e metodologicamente as Secções Provinciais correspondentes, através de encon¬tros e visitas de ajuda e controlo periódicos.

12. cumprir outras tarefas que a CNAC determinar.

SECÇÃO II. ESTRUTURAS DOS ESCALÕES INFERIORES

ARTIGO 13.°

1. Em cada Província existirá uma Comissão Pro¬vincial de Apoio à Cooperativização, orgânica e hierar¬quicamente dependente da Comissão Executiva do Comité Provincial do Partido e orientada metodologi¬camente pela CNAC; tendo, ao seu nível, as mesmas atribuições e competências.

2. As Comissões Provinciais de Apoio à Cooperati¬vização são Coordenadas pelos Secretários dos Comités Provinciais do Partido para a Política Agrária.

3. A estrutura orgânica e hierárquica e o modo de funcionamento serão objecto de um regulamento próprio, obedecendo na generalidade, as da CNAC, podendo ser adaptadas às condições específicas das respectivas áreas de actuação, após concordância da CNAC e dos respectivos Comités Provinciais do Partido.

ARTIGO 14.°Dos Escalões Inferiores

1. Nos escalões inferiores aos da Província, e sempre que o desenvolvimento do movimento cooperativo o justificar, devem ser criadas estruturas idênticas às da CNAC e CP AC, subordinando-se do ponto de vista orgânico e hierárquico ao Comité do Partido do escalão correspondente e, do ponto de vista metodológico, ao organismo homólogo do escalão superior.

2. A Coordenação das estruturas nos escalões infe¬riores aos da Província deve ser assumida sempre que possível pelo 1 .* Secretário do Partido do Escalão corres¬pondente.

3. A estrutura Orgânica e hierárquica e o modo de funcionamento das Comissões nos escalões inferiores

serão objecto de regulamento próprio a ser elaborado de acordo com normas a definir pela CNAC.

CAPÍTULO III. Métodos de Trabalho

ARTIGO 15.°Normas de Actuação

No desempenho das suas funções, a CNAC observa as seguintes normas de actuação:

a) A CNAC auxilia a Direcção do Partido, na orientação e direcção do Movimento Coope¬rativo, controlando o cumprimento das decisões dos órgãos superiores do Partido;

b) A CNAC não tem competência para elaborar ou aplicar política por si própria, mas ajuda os órgãos superiores do Partido a traçar a polí¬tica e as directrizes a serem aplicadas ao movimento cooperativo no campo, coorde¬nando a sua aplicação prática com os organismos executores do Estado e das Orga¬nizações de Massas e Sociais e informando o Secretariado do Comité Central do funcio¬namento dos organismos encarregues de materializar a política traçada.

ARTIGO 16.°Relações com as Estruturas Provinciais

As relações da CNAC com as estruturas provinciais e locais, exerce-se do seguinte modo:

a) controlo, mediante visitas, inspecções ou infor¬mações do cumprimento das orientações e directrizes dos organismos superiores;

b) controlo da aplicação dos princípios de direcção e dos métodos de trabalho correctos;

c) apoio na elaboração de planos de trabalho, formulação de propostas e aperfeiçoamento constante da organização e pela transmissão de experiências e de orientações metodo¬lógicas.

ARTIGO 17.°Relações com Organismos Estatais-

1. A CNAC não dirige os organismos do aparelho do Estado com acções directas no desenvolvimento do movi-mento cooperativo, não podendo dar-lhes directrizes, nem interferir ou substituir os mesmos nas suas activi- dades administrativas.

2. A coordenação e o controlo das actividades desses organismos no que respeita às acções no campo, concretiza-se da seguinte forma:

a) estudo e análise dos programas e relatórios e outros documentos, remetidos à CNAC por iniciativa daqueles ou por pedido expresso desta, elaborando para o Secretariado do CC as propostas e sugestões que considere conve¬nientes;

b) convocar e participar em reuniões com os orga¬nismos do Estado e outros, com vista à integração das actividades relacionadas com o meio rural, nomeadamente com o movi¬mento cooperativo.

ARTIGO 18.°Relações com as Organizações de Massas

Para melhor atingir os seus objectivos a CNAC deverá manter estreitas relações de trabalho:

a) com a UNTA e seus Sindicatos, especialmente dos trabalhadores de Agro-Pecuária e do Café, nas tarefas que contribuam para forta¬lecer as relações de trabalho e a aliança operário-camponesa;

b) com a OMA, tendo em vista a solução dos problemas que afectam a vida e o trabalho das mulheres camponesas, a sua superação e a sua integração em formas superiores de produção;

c) com a OPA, para o trabalho com os filhos dos camponeses, através de actividades culturais, recreativas e desportivas e para fomentar o gosto pelo trabalho produtivo;

d) com as BPV, para todas as tarefas que se julguem convenientes, tendo em vista a garantia da segurança das áreas de produção;

ARTIGO 19.°Reuniões da CNAC

1. A CNAC reunirá mensalmente, sob orientação do seu Coordenador, com objectivo de:

a) discutir e analisar questões gerais relacionadas com a sua actividade e funcionamento dos Departamentos;

b) programar e coordenar acções relativas à orga¬nização e desenvolvimento do movimento cooperativo;

c) analisar outras questões consideradas perti¬nentes.

2. Sempre que necessário, poderão participar nestas reuniões outros funcionários da CNAC.

3. A convocatória e a ordem de trabalhos das reuniões deverão ser distribuídas com antecedência de três dias, podendo os Chefes de Secção ou outros funcionários

sugerir a inclusão de pontos para discussão na Ordem de Trabalhos.

4. Poderão realizar-se reuniões extraordinárias sempre que necessário.

ARTIGO 20.° Reuniões Nacionais

1. A CNAC deverá promover a realização de reuniões nacionais com o objectivo de:

a) fazer o balanço da actividade desenvolvida;

b) programar e coordenar acções para o período seguinte;

c) transmitir orientações metodológicas para o funcionamento das estruturas provinciais.

2. A Reunião Nacional efectua-se pelo menos uma vez por ano, ou sempre que necessário, por convocatória do Coordenador da CNAC.

3. Participam na Reunião Nacional:

a) Coordenador da CNAC;

b) Coordenador Adjunto da CNAC;

c) Os Chefes dos Departamentos da CNAC;

d) Os Coordenadores das CP AC;

e) Outros quadros dos diferentes escalões, cuja participação se considere conveniente.

ARTIGO 21.°Outras Reuniões

1. A CNAC poderá promover a realização de Assem- Jbleias Nacionais,.de Camponeses Organizados com o objectivo de:

a) avaliar o grau de participação dos camponeses no Movimento Cooperativo;

b) auscultar as opiniões dos camponeses sobre a organização e desenvolvimento do Movi¬mento Cooperativo;

c) promover a solidariedade entre os camponeses das diversas Províncias do País, com vista à sua integração na futura União Nacional dos Camponeses Angolanos.

2. A CNAC deverá estabelecer oportunamente meto¬dologia para a realização das Assembleias Nacionais.

CAPÍTULO IV. Trabalhadores e Colaboradores

SECÇÃO I. ESTATUTO DOS TRABALHADORES

ARTIGO 22.°Funcionários e Colaboradores

1. Os Departamentos da CNAC são integrados por funcionários e colaboradores.

2. São funcionários da CNAC os membros e não membros do MPLA-Partido do Trabalho ou da Juven¬tude do Partido que exerçam profissionalmente a sua actividade na CNAC.

ARTIGO 23.°Colaboradores

1. São colaboradores da CNAC os quadros que, trabalhando profissionalmente noutros organismos do Partido, do Estado ou das Organizações de Massas e Sociais, prestam a sua colaboração eventual à CNAC.

2. Os colaboradores poderão ser nomeados de forma permanente ou de forma temporária para a realização de tarefas especificas.

3. A nomeação ou desvinculação dos colaboradores está sujeita à aprovação do Coordenador da CNAC.

ARTIGO 24.°Classificação Laborai

1. Os funcionários da CNAC agrupam-se, para efeitos laborais em três quadros de pessoal: quadro do pessoal dirigente, quadro do pessoal administrativo e quadro do pessoal técnico.

2. Os funcionários da CNAC vencerão os seus salá¬rios pelo Departamento de Administração e Finanças do Comité Central, enquanto não estiverem reunidas as condições para que a CNAC assuma essa tarefa.

3. O regime de colaboração aqui previsto não é remu¬nerado.

SECÇÃO II. DIREITOS E DEVERES

ARTIGO 25.° Direitos

Os funcionários da CNAC têm o direito de:

a) receber a remuneração correspondente à sua categoria profissional;

b) dispor de condições adequadas ao aumento do rendimento do seu trabalho;

c) beneficiar dos cursos necessários ao aumento do seu nível de formação política e técnico¬-profissional;

d) apresentar propostas e sugestões para melhorar o funcionamento e a actividade da CNAC;

e) beneficiar dos direitos sociais estabelecidos.

ARTIGO 26.° Deveres

Os funcionários da CNAC têm os seguintes deveres:

a) cumprir as ordens e instruções superiores, respei¬tando a hierarquia da CNAC;

b) zelar escrupulosamente pelos bens da CNAC confiados à sua guarda, impedindo e responsabilizando-se pelo seu desapareci¬mento ou deterioração;

c) ser exemplares na pontualidade, assiduidade e disciplina;

d) velar constantemente pela elevação do seu nível político, cultural e profissional;

e) guardar sigilo sobre questões tratadas no seu local de trabalho.

SECÇÃO III. DISCIPLINA

ARTIGO 27.°Responsabilidade Disciplinar

Os funcionários da CNAC sujeitam-se ao Regula¬mento de Disciplina do MPLA-Partido do Trabalho e a este Regulamento, estando, no caso de incumprimento ou violação das suas disposições ou de resoluções e direc- tivas dos órgãos superiores, abuso das suas funções ou de comportamento que prejudique o nome e o prestígio do Partido, e da CNAC, sujeitos a sanções partidárias e disciplinares.

ARTIGO 28.°Sanções Partidárias

As sanções partidárias e a sua forma de aplicação são as que se encontram regulamentadas nos artigos 20.0 a 30.° dos Estatutos do MPLA-Partido do Trabalho ou nos artigos 14.° a 16.° dos Estatutos da JMPLA- -Juventude do Partido, se se tratar de um membro desta última.

ARTIGO 29.° Sanções Disciplinares

Os funcionários da CNAC estão submetidos ao regime disciplinar consagrado na Lei Geral do Trabalho e diplomas complementares.

ARTIGO 30.° Suspensão Provisória

Em caso de indisciplina grave praticada por um funcionário da CNAC, o seu Coordenador, consoante a categoria do infractor, poderá suspendê-lo imediata¬mente do desempenho das suas funções, mantendo-se a suspensão até que sobrevenha uma decisão definitiva, continuando a receber os seus vencimentos pelo prazo de 60 dias.

CAPÍTULO V. Fundos

ARTIGO 31.° Constituição

1. A CNAC deverá constituir um fundo único, desti¬nado a suportar as despesas relativas à organização do Movimento Cooperativo no campo.

2. Esse fundo único será constituído com base em:

a) quotização dos camponeses associados através das CP AC;

b) doações feitas por organizações estrangeiras e internacionais.

3. A movimentação das quotizações deve ser objecto de regulamentação própria a estabelecer pela CNAC.

ARTIGO 32.°Movimentação

O fundo único da CNAC é gerido pelo Departamento para a Administração e Serviços, devendo ser movimen¬tado pelo respectivo chefe e pelo Coordenador da CNAC, conjuntamente.

CAPÍTULO VI. Disposições Finais e Transitórias

ARTIGO 33° Extinção

1. A CNAC será extinta por resolução do Secre¬tariado do Comité Central do MPLA-Partido do Trabalho.

2. As propostas de modificações da sua estrutura, composição e atribuição são apresentadas pela CNAC ao Secretariado do Comité Central do MPLA-Partido do Trabalho para decisão.

ARTIGO 34.° Dúvidas e omissões

Todas as dúvidas suscitadas na interpretação e apli¬cação do presente Regulamento, bem como as suas omissões, serão resolvidas pelo Secretariado do Comité Central.

O Ministro, Fernando José de França Dias Van- -Dunem.

REGULAMENTO DA COMISSÃO PROVINCIAL DE APOIO À COOPERATIVIZAÇÃO

CAPÍTULO 1. Disposições Gerais

SECÇÃO I.

ARTIGO 1.° Definição

A Comissão Provincial de Apoio à Cooperativização, abreviadamente designada por CPAC, é um Órgão colectivo, de carácter provisório, criado pelo Secreta-

riado do Comité Central do MPLA-Partido do Trabalho, com a finalidade de orientar, enquadrar e dirigir o movimento cooperativo na Província, promo¬vendo as condições para o surgimento da União Nacional dos Camponeses Angolanos (UNACA).

ARTIGO 2.° Dependência

A Comissão Provincial de Apoio à Cooperativização depende da Comissão Executiva do Comité Provincial do Partido, sendo coordenada pelo Secretário para a Política Agrária do Comité Provincial do Partido.

SECÇÃO II. ATRIBUIÇÕES E PRINCÍPIOS

ARTIGO 3.° Atribuições

A Comissão Provincial de Apoio à Cooperativização tem, em geral, as seguintes atribuições:

a) orientar a sua acção de acordo com as orienta¬ções do MPLA-Partido do Trabalho nos domínios político, económico e social e de acordo com as orientações metodológicas da Comissão Nacional de Apoio à Cooperati¬vização;

b) orientar e dirigir as organizações de camponeses no cumprimento dos objectivos económicos da RPA, em particular no domínio da polí¬tica agrária, dos planos de produção, abastecimento e comercialização;

c) desenvolver um trabalho persistente e sistemá¬tico junto dos camponeses no sentido da sua consciencialização, mobilização e enquadra¬mento em organizações de base, tendo em vista a evolução progressiva para formas superiores de organização da produção e consumo;

d) desencadear acções para elevar, de forma siste¬mática, o nível político, cultural e técnico dos camponeses;

e) consolidar a aliança operário-camponesa através de formas concretas de cooperação;

f) orientar os camponeses na utilização racional e correcta dos recursos financeiros e técnicos que lhes venham a ser concedidos;

g) promover campanhas de esclarecimento e de sensibilização para uma participação cada vez mais activa e consciente dos camponeses nas tarefas da defesa e da vigilância popular;

h) promover acções de formação e superação de quadros nos vários domínios, tendo em vista a futura criação e funcionamento da UNACA;

i) dinamizar a criação das Comissões Municipais de Apoio à Cooperativização e orientar meto¬dologicamente a sua actividade;

j) divulgar através dos Meios de Difusão Massiva e outros na Província, as acções levadas a cabo pelos camponeses nesta fase do seu processo de organização, nos mais diversos domínios;

l) apresentar à Comissão Nacional de Apoio à Cooperativização propostas de projectos e programas dc intervenção junto das Coope¬rativas e Associações de Camponeses, com vista à obtenção de apoio diverso por parte de organizações estrangeiras e internacionais;

m) propor à Comissão Nacional de Apoio à Coope¬rativização formas e métodos para o melhoramento da organização da própria estrutura e do movimento cooperativo na Província;

n) participar nas Reuniões Nacionais convocadas pela Comissão Nacional de Apoio à Coope¬rativização.

ARTIGO 4 °. Princípios

A Comissão Provincial de Apoio à Cooperativização norteia a sua actuação pelos seguintes princípios orga- nizativos e metodológicos:

a) disciplina rigorosa no acatamento dos princípios orgânicos e disposições estatutárias e regu¬lamentares, bem como das resoluções e directrizes dos Órgãos Superiores;

b) prática e estímulo do trabalho colectivo e do espírito da ajuda mútua;

c) planificação do trabalho e controlo rigoroso da sua execução;

d) ligação estreita e permanente com as Comissões Municipais de Apoio à Cooperativização, através de informações recíprocas;

e) ligação estreita e permanente com os organismos estatais e com as organizações de Massas e Sociais, sediados na Província.

CAPÍTULO II. Estrutura Orgânica

SECÇÃO 1. ESTRUTURA PROVINCIAL

ARTIGO 5.° Constituição

1. A Comissão Provincial de Apoio à Cooperativi¬zação (CPAC) tem a seguinte constituição:

a) Coordenador;

b) Conselho Consultivo Provincial;

c) Secção de Organização do Movimento Coope¬rativo;

d) Secção de Desenvolvimento Económico;

e) Secção de Desenvolvimento Social;

f) Secção de Administração e Serviços;

2. Quando o volume e a complexidade das tarefas o justificarem, as Secções poderão subdividir-se em subsec¬ções, chefiadas por um Chefe de Subsecção.

3. As Subsecções são criadas por decisão da Comissão Nacional de Apoio à Cooperativização, sob proposta de cada Comissão Provincial.

ARTIGO 6.° Coordenador

1. O Coordenador da Comissão Provincial de Apoio à Cooperativização é o Secretário do Comité Provincial do Partido para a Política Agrária, sendo o seu respon¬sável máximo e representando-a perante os Órgãos do Partido e do Estado ao seu escalão e perante a Comissão Nacional de Apoio à Cooperativização.

2. Compete ao Coordenador:

a) dirigir, orientar e supervisionar as actividades da Comissão Provincial de Apoio à Cooperati¬vização respondendo perante a Comissão Executiva do Comité Provincial do Partido e a Comissão Nacional de Apoio à Coopera¬tivização pelo cabal desempenho das mesmas;

b) convocar e presidir às reuniões da Comissão Provincial de Apoio à Cooperativização e do Conselho Consultivo Provincial;

c) garantir a elaboração, cumprimento e controlo do Plano de Trabalhos da Comissão Provin¬cial de Apoio à Cooperativização, prestando contas do seu cumprimento trimestralmente à Comissão Executiva do Comité Provincial do Partido e à Comissão Nacional de Apoio à Cooperativização;

d) garantir uma correcta aplicaçãojdos-métodos e princípios de direcção cieíítífica, nomeada¬mente o centralismo democrático, a direcção colectiva e a responsabilidade individual;

e) orientar e controlar, de forma coordenada, o trabalho dos Chefes das Secções;

f) propor à Comissão Executiva do Comité Provin¬cial do Partido a nomeação ou exoneração dos Chefes de Secção, bem como nomear ou exonerar os Chefes de Sub-Secção, outros funcionários e colaboradores;

g) representar a Comissão Provincial de Apoio à Cooperativização em todos os actos e perante organismos e organizações provinciais e nacionais;

h) movimentar, juntamente com o Coordenador da Secção para a Administração e Serviços, as contas da Comissão Provincial de Apoio à Cooperativização;

i) ocupar-se das questões ligadas à informação e propaganda e à divulgação das actividades da Comissão Provincial de Apoio à Cooperati¬vização e do movimento cooperativo em geral.

ARTIGO 7.° Conselho Consultivo Provincial

1. O Conselho Consultivo Provincial é um Órgão de consulta da Comissão Provincial de Apoio à Coopera-tivização, no qual estão representados, para além dos membros da Comissão, os seguintes organismos do Partido, do Estado e das Organizações de Massas, responsáveis pela implementação das orientações do Partido sobre o desenvolvimento rural em geral e em particular sobre o movimento cooperativo:

a) Departamento de Organização do Comité Provincial do Partido;

b) Departamento para o Desenvolvimento Econó¬mico e Social do Comité Provincial do Partido;

c) Departamento para o Sector Produtivo do Secretariado Provincial da Juventude do Partido;

d) Departamento para o Trabalho Produtivo do Secretariado Provincial da OMA;

e) Delegação Provincial da Agricultura;

f) Delegação Provincial do Comércio Interno;

g) Delegação Provincial da Saúde;

h) Delegação Provincial da Educação;

i) Delegação Provincial dos Assuntos Sociais;

j) Centro Provincial de Alfabetização.

2. Poderão integrar o Conselho Consultivo Provin¬cial outros organismos que a Comissão Provincial de Apoio à Cooperativização venha a considerar como indispensáveis ao seu bom funcionamento.

3. Compete ao Conselho Consultivo Provincial:

a) compatibilizar e controlar a execução de programas provinciais;

b) apoiar e emitir opiniões e sugestões que contri¬buam para o fortalecimento do movimento cooperativo na Província;

c) sensibilizar os organismos quer estatais, quer as Organizações de Massas e Sociais para a solução dos problemas dos camponeses, de uma forma coordenada e harmoniosa.

4. O Conselho Consultivo Provincial reúne ordina¬riamente quatro vezes por ano e extraordinariamente quando a Comissão Provincial de Apoio à Cooperativi- zação o entender, por Convocatória do Coordenador.

ARTIGO 8.° Secção para a Organização do Movimento Cooperativo

Compete à Secção para a Organização do Movimento Cooperativo:

1. orientar e controlar o enquadramento dos campo¬neses nas suas cooperativas e associações.

2. orientar e controlar a estruturação do movimento cooperativo da base ao topo, bem como apoiar as demais acções que visem a criação da União Nacional dos Camponeses Angolanos (UNACA).

3. elaborar propostas de projectos de normas e direc- tivas sobre as questões organizativas do movimento cooperativo na Província e submetê-las à Comissão Nacional de Apoio à Cooperativização.

4. ocupar-se das questões organizativas do movimento cooperativo, nomeadamente a preparação e o acompa-nhamento das reuniões e assembleias a todos os níveis.

5. fazer os estudos e elaborar as propostas para o cres¬cimento do movimento cooperativo na Província e submetê-las à Comissão Nacional de Apoio à Coopera¬tivização.

6. sensibilizar e mobilizar os camponeses organizados para as tarefas da defesa e vigilância popular, em estreita colaboração com os organismos campetentes.

7. manter actualizado o ficheiro e a estatística rela¬tivos às actividades organizativas, da base ao topo.

8. fazer propostas para a formação e superação de quadros da Província, de acordo com as orientações da Comissão Nacional de Apoio à Cooperativização.

9. orientar, planificar e controlar a actividade dos activistas e velar pela elevação do seu nível cultural, político-ideológico e profissional.

10. elaborar, de forma coordenada, o seu Plano trimestral de actividades, prestando contas do seu cumprimento mensalmente à Coordenação da Comissão Provincial de Apoio à Cooperativização, bem como ao Departamento correspondente da Comissão Nacional de Apoio à Cooperativização.

11. estudar e propor formas de melhorar a organi¬zação funcional da Secção, desenvolvendo métodos de trabalho que permitam o aproveitamento das iniciativas e a participação activa de todos os seus componentes.

12. apoiar sistemática e metodologicamente as secções Municipais correspondentes, através de encontros e visitas de ajuda e controlo periódicos.

13. cumprir outras tarefas que a Comissão Provin¬cial de Apoio à Cooperativização determinar.

ARTIGO 9.°Secção para o Desenvolvimento Económico

Compete à Secção para o Desenvolvimento Econó¬mico:

1. orientar e coordenar todos os programas de apoio material e técnico que visam o desenvolvimento do movi-mento cooperativo na Província.

2. elaborar e submeter à aprovação da Coordenação, os mecanismos mais adequados para a orientação e controlo da execução prática dos planos de produção, comercialização, abastecimento técnico-material e de apoio financeiro.

3. estudar e propor as formas mais expeditas de arti¬culação entre as estruturas económicas do aparelho do Estado vocacionadas para a intervenção no campo e as Cooperativas e Associações de Camponeses.

4. manter estreitas relações de trabalho com os orga¬nismos do Estado, em particular com aqueles que têm acções directas na transformação e desenvolvimento das relações de produção no campo.

5. contribuir para a utilização racional dos recursos humanos, materiais e técnicos afectados às organizações camponesas, por forma a permitir o aumento da produção e da produtividade.

6. emitir pareceres sobre os projectos de Plano para o sector camponês no domínio da produção, do abaste¬cimento e dos investimentos.

7. emitir pareceres e informar com regularidade sobre a execução dos projectos e programas de apoio dirigidos ao sector camponês da Província, por parte de orga¬nismos estrangeiros e internacionais.

8. propor medidas organizativas e outras que permitam a integração progressiva das cooperativas e associações de camponeses na rede retalhista rural.

9. participar nas reuniões e seminários promovidos pelos organismos estatais, onde sejam tratadas questões relacionadas com a vida económica das Cooperativas e Associações de Camponeses.

10. orientar o reforço das Comissões de Gestão e controlo das Associações e Cooperativas de Camponeses com vista a um maior controlo da produção e da utili¬zação das receitas.

11. elaborar, de forma coordenada, o seu Plano Trimestral de actividades, prestando contas do seu cumprimento mensalmente à Coordenação da Comissão Provincial de Apoio à Cooperativização, bem como ao Departamento correspondente da Comissão Nacional de Apoio à Cooperativização.

12. estudar e propor formas de melhorar a organi¬zação funcional da Secção, desenvolvendo métodos de trabalho que permitam o aproveitamento das iniciativas e a participação activa de todos os seus componentes.

13. apoiar sistemática e metodologicamente as Secções Municipais correspondentes, através de encon¬tros e visitas de ajuda e controlo periódicas.

14. cumprir outras tarefas que a Comissão Provin¬cial de Apoio à Cooperativização determinar.

ARTIGO 10.°Secção para o Desenvolvimento Social

Compete à Secção para o Desenvolvimento Social:

1. apoiar todas as acções que visam o desenvolvi¬mento social no meio rural em geral e, em particular, dos camponeses organizados em Cooperativas e Asso¬ciações.

2. estudar e propor as formas mais correctas de apoio social ac meio rural na Província.

3. acompanhar e coordenar, de forma sistemática, todos os programas que visem o bem-estar social no campo, nomeadamente os progranas de combate ao analfabetismo, de saúde pública e de assistência médica e medicamentosa e das actividades culturais.

4. emitir pareceres sobre os Projectos de Plano Provinciais para o Sector camponês no domínio da educação, saúde, analfabetização e outras actividades de carácter social.

5. emitir pareceres e informar regularmente sobre a execução dos programas de ajuda por parte de orga¬nismos internacionais que visem o desenvolvimento social do campo na Província.

6. desenvolver boas relações de colaboração e coor¬denação com os organismos estatais e de massas e sociais, de forma a aproveitar as capacidades e iniciativas destes para as acções de desenvolvimento social do campo.

7. orientar o reforço das Comissões de Gestão e Controlo das Cooperativas e Associações de Campo¬

neses, com vista a uma intervenção e controlo mais inte¬grados das acções sociais a levar a cabo no meio rural.

8. elaborar, de forma coordenada, o seu Plano Trimestral de actividades, prestando contas do seu cumprimento mensalmente à Coordenação da Comissão Provincial de Apoio à Cooperativização, bem como ao Departamento correspondente da Comissão Nacional de Apoio à Cooperativização.

9. estudar e propor formas de melhorar a organização funcional da Secção, desenvolvendo métodos de trabalho que permitam o aproveitamento das iniciativas e a parti¬cipação activa de todos os seus componentes.

10. apoiar sistemática e metodologicamente as Secções Municipais através de encontros e visitas de ajuda e controlo periódicas.

11. cumprir outras tarefas que a Comissão Provin¬cial de Apoio à Cooperativização determinar

ARTIGO 11.°Secção para a Administração e Serviços

Compete à Secção para a Administração e Serviços:

1. gerir os fundos da Comissão Provincial de Apoio à Cooperativização.

2. orientar metodologicamente a movimentação dos fundos à disposição das Comissões Municipais de Apoio à Cooperativização e garantir a permanente utilização racional desses fundos.

3. organizar o sistema administrativo no seio da Comissão Provincial de Apoio à Cooperativização, bem como orientar e controlar periodicamente a documen¬tação e o património da mesma.

4. fazer recebimentos, pagamentos e os respectivos lançamentos contabilísticos.

5. apoiar os membros da Comissão Nacional de Apoio à Cooperativização e das Comissões Provinciais e Municipais de Apoio à Cooperativização que se deslo¬quem em serviço.

6. elaborar, de forma coordenada, o seu plano trimes¬tral de actividades, prestando contas do seu cumprimento mensalmente à Coordenação da Comissão Provincial de Apoio à Cooperativização, e ao Departamento corres¬pondente da Comissão Nacional de Apoio à Coope¬rativização.

7. estudar e propor formas de melhorar a organização funcional da Secção, desenvolvendo métodos de trabalho que permitam o aproveitamento das iniciativas e a parti¬cipação activa de todos os seus componentes.

8. apoiar sistemática e metodologicamente as Secções Municipais correspondentes, através de encontros e visitas de ajuda e controlo periódicas.

9. cumprir outras tarefas que a Comissão Provincial de Apoio à Cooperativização determinar.

SECÇÃO II. ESTRUTURAS DOS ESCALÕES INFERIORES

ARTIGO 12.° Das Comissões Municipais de Apoio i Cooperativização

1. Em cada Município existirá uma Comissão Muni¬cipal de Apoio à Cooperativização, orgânica e hierarquicamente dependente da Comissão Executiva do Comité Municipal do Partido e orientada metodologi¬camente pela Comissão Provincial de Apoio à Cooperativização, tendo, ao seu nível as mesmas atri¬buições e competências.

2. As Comissões Municipais de Apoio à Cooperati¬vização são coordenadas sempre que possível pelos Primeiros Secretários dos Comités Municipais do Partido.

3. A estrutura orgânica e hierárquica e o modo de funcionamento serão objecto de um regulamento próprio, obedecendo na generalidade, as da Comissão Provincial de Apoio à Cooperativização, podendo ser adaptadas às condições específicas das respectivas áreas de actuação, após concordância da Comissão Provin¬cial de Apoio à Cooperativização e dos respectivos Comités Provinciais do Partido.

CAPÍTULO III. Métodos de Trabalho

ARTIGO 13.° Normas de Actuação

No desempenho das suas funções, a Comissão Provin¬cial de Apoio à Cooperativização, observa as seguintes normas de actuação:

a) a Comissão Provincial de Apoio à Cooperativi¬zação auxilia a Direcção do Partido do seu escalão, na orientação e direcção do Movi¬mento Cooperativo na Província, contro¬lando o cumprimento das decisões dos Órgãos superiores;

b) a Comissão Provincial de Apoio à Cooperativi¬zação não tem competência para elaborar ou aplicar política por si própria, mas ajuda os órgãos superiores do Partido a traçar a polí¬tica e as directrizes a serem aplicadas ao movimento cooperativo no campo, coorde¬nando a sua aplicação prática com os organismos executores do Estado e das Orga-nizações de Massas e Sociais e informando a Comissão Executiva do Comité Provincial

do Partido do funcionamento dos orga¬nismos encarregues de materializar a política traçada.

ARTIGO 14.° Relações com as Estruturas Municipais

As relações da Comissão Provincial de Apoio à Cooperativização com as estruturas municipais e locais, exerce-se do seguinte modo:

a) controlo, mediante visitas, inspecções ou infor¬mações do cumprimento das orientações e directrizes dos organismos superiores;

b) controlo da aplicação dos princípios de direcção e dos métodos de trabalho correctos;

c) apoio na elaboração de planos de trabalho, formulação de propostas e aperfeiçoamento constante da organização e pela transmissão de experiências e de orientações metodo¬lógicas.

ARTIGO 15.° Relações com Organismos Estatais

1. A Comissão Provincial de Apoio à Cooperativi¬zação não dirige os organismos do aparelho do Estado com acções directas ao desenvolvimento do movimento cooperativo, não podendo dar-lhes directrizes, nem inter¬ferir ou substituir os mesmos nas suas actividades administrativas.

2. A coordenação e o controlo das actividades desses organismos no que respeita às acções no campo, concretiza-se da seguinte forma:

a) estudo e análise dos programas e relatórios e outros documentos, remetidos à Comissão Provincial de Apoio à Cooperativização por iniciativa daqueles ou por pedido expresso desta, elaborando para a Comissão Execu¬tiva do Comité Provincial do Partido as propostas e sugestões que considere conve¬nientes;

b) convocar e participar em reuniões com os orga¬nismos do Estado e outros, com vista à integração das actividades relacionadas com o meio rural, nomeadamente com o movi¬mento cooperativo na Província.

ARTIGO 16.° Relações com as Organizações de Massas

Para melhor atingir os seus objectivos, a Comissão Provincial de Apoio à Cooperativização deverá manter estreitas relações de trabalho:

a) com a UNTA e seus Sindicatos, especialmente dos trabalhadores de Agro-Pecuária e do

Café, nas tarefas que contribuam para forta- - lecer as relações de trabalho e a aliança Operário-Camponesa;

b) com a OMA, tendo em vista a solução dos problemas que afectam a vida e o trabalho das mulheres camponesas, a sua superação e a sua integração em formas superiores de produção;

c) com a OPA, para o trabalho com os filhos dos Camponeses, através de actividades culturais, recreativas e desportivas e para fomentar o gosto pelo trabalho produtivo;

d) com as BPV, para todas as tarefas que se julguem convenientes tendo em conta a garantia da segurança das áreas de produção.

ARTIGO 17.° Reuniões da Comissão Provincial de Apoio i Cooperativização

1. A Comissão Provincial de Apoio à cooperátivi- zação reunirá mensalmente, sob a orientação do seu Coordenador, com o objectivo de:

a) discutir e analisar questões gerais relacionadas com a sua actividade e funcionamento das Secções;

b) programar e coordenar acções relativas à orga¬nização e desenvolvimento do movimento cooperativo na Província;

c) analisar outras questões consideradas perti¬nentes.

2. Sempre que necessário, poderão participar nestas reuniões outros funcionários da Comissão Provincial de Apoio à Cooperativização.

3. A convocatória e a Ordem de Trabalho das reuniões deverão ser distribuídas com a antecedência de três dias, podendo os Chefes de Sub-Secção ou outros funcionários sugerir a inclusão de pontos para discussão na Ordem de Trabalhos.

4. Poderão realizar-se reuniões extraordinárias sempre que necessário.

ARTIGO 18° Reuniões Provinciais

1. A Comissão Provincial de Apoio à Cooperativi¬zação deverá promover a realização de reuniões provinciais com o objectivo de:

a) fazer o balanço da actividade desenvolvida;

b) programar e coordenar acções para o período seguinte;

c) transmitir orientações metodológicas para o funcionamento das estruturas municipais.

2. A Reunião Provincial efectua-se pelo menos duas vezes por ano, ou sempre que necessário, por convoca¬tória do Coordenador da Comissão Provincial de Apoio à Cooperativização.

3. Participam na Reunião Provincial:

a) o Coordenador da Comissão Provincial de Apoio à Cooperativização;

b) os Chefes das Secções da Comissão Provincial de Apoio à Cooperativização;

c) os Coordenadores das Comissões Municipais de Apoio à Cooperativização;

d) outros quadros dos diferentes escalões, cuja participação se considere conveniente.

ARTIGO 19.° Outras Reuniões

1. A Comissão Provincial de Apoio à Cooperativi¬zação poderá promover a realização de Assembleias Provinciais de Camponeses Organizados com o objec¬tivo de:

a) avaliar o grau de participação dos camponeses no Movimento Cooperativo na Província;

b) auscultar as opiniões dos camponeses sobre a organização e desenvolvimento do Movi¬mento Cooperativo na Província;

c) promover a solidariedade e a troca de experiên¬cias entre as organizações de camponeses dos diversos Municípios da Província, com vista à sua integração na futura União Nacional dos Camponeses Angolanos.

2. A Comissão Nacional de Apoio à Cooperativização deverá estabelecer oportunamente a metodologia para a realização das Assembleias Provinciais.

CAPÍTULO IV. Trabalhadores e Colaboradores

SECÇÃO I. ESTATUTO DOS TRABALHADORES

ARTIGO 20.° Funcionários e Colaboradores

1. As Secções da Comissão Provincial de Apoio à Cooperativização são integrados por funcionários e cola-boradores.

2. São funcionários da Comissão Provincial de Apoio à Cooperativização os membros e não membros do MPLA-Partido do Trabalho ou da JMPLA-Juventude do Partido que exerçam profissionalmente a sua activi¬dade na Comissão Provincial de Apoio à Coope¬rativização.

ARTIGO 21. ° Colaboradores

1. São colaboradores da Comissão Provincial de Apoio à Cooperatização os quadros que, trabalhando profissionalmente noutros organismos do Partido, do Estado ou das Organizações de Massas e Sociais prestam a sua colaboração eventual à Comissão Provincial de Apoio à Cooperativização.

2. Os colaboradores poderão ser nomeados de forma permanente ou de forma temporária para a realização de tarefas específicas.

3. A nomeação ou desvinculação dos colaboradores está sujeita à aprovação do Coordenador da Comissão Provincial de Apoio à Cooperativização.

ARTIGO 22.° Classificação Laborai

1. Os funcionários da Comissão Provincial de Apoio à Cooperativização agrupam-se, para efeitos laborais em três quadros de pessoal: quadro do pessoal dirigente, quadro do pessoal administrativo e quadro do pessoal técnico.

2. Os funcionários da Comissão Provincial de Apoio à Cooperativização vencerão os seus salários pelo Depar-tamento de Administração e Finanças do Comité Provincial do Partido, enquanto não estiverem reunidas as condições para que a Comissão Provincial de Apoio à Cooperativização assuma essa tarefa.

3. O regime de colaboração aqui previsto não é obri¬gatoriamente remunerado.

SECÇÃO II. DIREITOS E DEVERES

ARTIGO 23.° Direitos

Os funcionários da Comissão Provincial de Apoio à Cooperativização têm o direito de:

a) receber a remuneração correspondente à sua categoria profissional;

b) dispor de condições adequadas ao aumento do rendimento do seu trabalho;

c) beneficiar dos cursos necessários ao aumento do seu nível de formação política e técnico- profissional;

d) apresentar propostas e sugestões para melhorar o funcionamento e a actividade da Comissão Provincial 'de Apoio à Cooperativização;

e) beneficiar dos direitos sociais estabelecidos.

ARTIGO 24.° Deveres

Os funcionários da Comissão Provincial de Apoio à Cooperativização têm os seguintes deveres:

a) cumprir as ordens e instruções superiores, respei¬tando a hierarquia da Comissão Provincial de Apoio à Cooperativização;

b) zelar escrupulosamente pelos bens da Comissão Provincial de Apoio à Cooperativização confiados à sua guarda, impedindo e responsabilizando-se pelo seu desapareci¬mento ou deterioração;

c) ser exemplar na pontualidade, assiduidade e disciplina;

d) velar constantemente pela elevação do seu nível político, cultural e profissional;

e) guardar sigilo sobre as questões tratadas no seu local de trabalho.

SECÇÃO III. DISCIPLINA

ARTIGO 25.° Responsabilidade Disciplinar

Os funcionários da Comissão Provincial de Apoio à Cooperativização sujeitam-se ao Regulamento de Disci¬plina do MPLA-Partido do Trabalho e a este Regulamento, estando, no caso de incumprimento ou violação das suas disposições ou de resoluções e direc- tivas dos órgãos superiores, abuso das suas funções ou de comportamento que prejudique o nome e o prestígio do Partido e da Comissão Provincial de Apoio à Coope¬rativização, sujeitos a sanções partidárias e disciplinares.

ARTIGO 26.° Sanções Partidárias

As sanções partidárias e a sua forma de aplicação são as que se encontram regulamentadas nos artigos 20.° a 30.° dos Estatutos do MPLA-Partido do Trabalho ou nos artigos 14.° a 16.° dos Estatutos da JMPLA- - Juventude do Partido, se se tratar de um membro desta última.

ARTIGO 27.° Sanções Disciplinares

Os funcionários da Comissão Provincial de Apoio à Cooperativização estão submetidos a regime disciplinar consagrado na Lei Geral do Trabalho e diplomas complementares.

ARTIGO 28.° Suspensão Provisória

Em caso de indisciplina grave praticada por um funcionário da Comissão Provincial de Apoio à Coope-

rativização, o seu Coordenador, consoante a categoria do infractor, poderá suspendê-lo imediatamente do desempenho das suas funções, mantendo-se a suspensão até que sobrevenha uma decisão definitiva, continuando a receber os seus vencimentos pelo prazo de 60 dias.

CAPÍTULO V. Dos Fundos

ARTIGO 29.° Constituição

1. A Comissão Provincial de Apoio à Cooperativi¬zação poderá constituir um fundo único, destinado a suportar as despesas da organização do Movimento na Província.

Esse fundo único será constituído com base em:

a) quotização dos camponeses associados;

b) doações feitas por organismos nacionais e inter¬nacionais.

2. A movimentação das quotizações deve ser objecto de regulamentação própria a estabelecer pela Comissão Nacional de Apoio à Cooperativização.

ARTIGO 30.° Movimentação

O Fundo único da Comissão Provincial de Apoio à Cooperativização é gerido pela Secção para a Adminis¬tração e Serviços, devendo ser movimentado pelo seu Chefe e pelo Coordenador da Comissão Provincial de Apoio à Cooperativização, conjuntamente,

CAPÍTULO VI. Disposições Finais e Transitórias

ARTIGO 31.° Extinção

1. A Comissão Provincial de Apoio à Cooperativi¬zação será extinta por resolução do Secretariado do Comité Central do MPLA-Partido do Trabalho.

2. As propostas de modificações da sua estrutura, composição e atribuições são apresentadas pela Comissão Nacional de Apoio à Cooperativização ao Secretariado do Comité Central do MPLA-Partido do Trabalho para decisão, quer por sugestão da Comissão Provincial de Apoio à Cooperativização ou por decisão da própria Comissão Nacional de Apoio à Cooperati¬vização.

ARTIGO 32.° Dúvidas e Omissões

Todas as dúvidas suscitadas na interpretação e apli¬cação do presente Regulamento, bem como as suas

omissões serão resolvidas pelo Secretariado do Comité Central.

O Ministro, Fernando José de França Dias Van-Dúnem.

2. Translation. Diário da República. Official Organ of the Popular Republic of Angola. Saturday, 13 May 1989, Series I — No. 18

(…)

SUMMARY

(…)

Ministry of Justice

Executive Decree no. 8/89:
Approves the Constitution of the National Union of Angolan Peasantry, UNACA, and the Regulations for the National and Provincial Commissions of Support for Cooperatization, abbreviated CNAC and CPAC, that are fully integrated into the current executive decree.

(…)

MINISTERY OF JUSTICE

Executive Decree no. 8/89 of the 13 of May

The II Congress of the MPLA-Workers’ Party reaffirms the necessity of the constitution of the National Union of Angolan Peasantry, UNACA, as a Mass Organization that will allow for the transmission of the instruction of the Party and the Government to the peasantry regarding socio-economic policy, mobilizing it for the realization of this policy and for the progressive transformation of the relations of production in the agricultural sector in the defense of the interest of the peasantry.

The National Commission of Support for Cooperatization, as well as the respective Provincial Commissions have emerged on a provisional basis and as an extremely important factor in this embryonic phase of the cooperative movement in the countryside until the conditions are created for the existence of the National Union of Angolan Peasants;

Having been approved by the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the MPLA-Workers’ Party, the creation of the National Commission of Support for Cooperatization and the Provincial Commissions should be given legal existence;

Having verified that the Regulations of the aforementioned Committees are in accordance with the legal provisions in force;

Pursuant to Article 62 of the Constitutional Law, I hereby determine:

Sole Article — The Regulations of the National and Provincial Commissions of Support for Cooperatization, abbreviated CNAC and CPAC, which form an integral part of this executive decree, are hereby approved.

To be published.

Luanda, 16 February 1988.

Minister Fernando José de França Dias Van-Dúnem.

REGULATIONS OF THE NATIONAL COMMISSION OF SUPPORT FOR COOPERATIZATION

CHAPTER I. General Provisions

SECTION I. DEFINITION AND DEPENDENCE

ARTICLE 1. DEFINITION

The National Commission of Support for Cooperatization, abbreviated as CNAC, is a collective body, of a provisional nature, created by the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the MPLA-Workers’ Party, with the purpose of guiding, framing, and directing the Angolan cooperative movement by promoting the conditions for the emergence of the National Union of Angolan Peasantry (UNACA).

ARTICLE 2. Dependence

CNAC depends on the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the MPLA-Workers’ Party, coordinated by the Secretary for Agrarian Policy.

SECTION II. Duties and Principles

ARTICLE 3. Duties

In general, CNAC has the following duties:

a) To direct its action in accordance with the guidelines of the MPLA-Workers’ Party in the political, economic and social spheres;

b) To guide and direct the Peasant organizations in the fulfillment of the economic objectives of the R.P.A., particularly in the domains of agrarian policy, production plans, supply and commercialization;

c) To develop a persistent and systematic work program alongside the peasants to raise their awareness, mobilize them, and integrate them into support organizations, with a view to their progressive evolution towards superior forms of organizing production and consumption;

d) To take actions to raise the political, cultural and technical levels of the peasantry;

e) To consolidate the worker-peasant alliance through concrete forms of cooperation;

f) To guide the peasants in the rational and correct use of financial and technical resources that may be provided to them;

g) To promote campaigns of awareness raising and sensibility so that peasants can participate more actively and consciously in the tasks of defense and popular vigilance;

h) To develop peasant solidarity with the struggle of all the peoples of the world for economic and social progress and peace;

i) To promote actions of training and development of staff members in various domains, with a view to the future creation and operation of UNACA;

j) To encourage the creation of Provincial Commissions of Support for Cooperatization and provide methodological guidance for their activities;

l) To disseminate, through mass media and other means, the actions carried out by the peasantry, at this of their organization process, in the most diverse areas;

m) To develop actions alongside foreign and international organizations with the intention of obtaining various types of support for intervention programs and projects in rural areas.

ARTICLE 4. Principles

CNAC guides its actions according to the following organizational and methodological principles:

a) Strict discipline in complying with the organic principles and the statutory and parliamentary provisions, as well as the resolution and directives of the higher bodies;

b) Practicing and encouraging collective work and a spirit of mutual help;

c) Planning the work and rigorously monitoring its execution;

d) Close and permanent connection with the Provincial Commissions of Support for Cooperatization, through reciprocal information-sharing;

e) Close and permanent contact with state bodies as well as mass and social organizations.

CHAPTER II. Organic Structure

SECTION I. GENERAL STRUCTURE

ARTICLE 5. Constitution

1. The National Commission of Support for Cooperatization (CNAC) is organized as follows:

a) Coordinator;

b) Deputy Coordinator;

c) Advisory Council;

d) Department for the Organization of the Cooperative Movement;

e) Economic Development Department;

f) Social Development Department;

g) Administration and Services Department;

2. When the volume and complexity of the tasks so justify, the Departments may be subdivided into section, led by a Section head.

3. The Section are created by decision of the National Commission of Support for Cooperatization.

ARTICLE 6. Coordinator

1. The Coordinator of the CNAC is the Secretary of the Central Committee for Agrarian Policy, who is its head and represents it before the highest body of the Party and the State.

2. The Coordinator is responsible for:

a) Directing, guiding and supervising the activities of the CNAC, and be accountable to the Secretariat of the Central Committee for their proper performance;

b) Convening and chairing meetings of CNAC and the National Consultative Council;

c) Ensuring that the CNAC’s work plan is drawn up, complied with and monitored, reporting on its compliance to the Central Committee Secretariat every six months;

d) Ensuring the correct application of the methods and principles of scientific management, in particular democratic centralism, collective management and individual responsibility;

e) Guiding and controlling, in a coordinated manner, the work of the Heads of Departments;

f) Proposing the appointment or dismissal of Department Heads to the Secretariat of the Central Committee, we well as appointing or dismissing Section Heads, other officials and collaborators;

g) Representing the CNAC in all acts and before national, foreign, and international bodies and organizations;

h) Handle the CNAC’s accounts together with the Department Coordinator for Administration and Services.

ARTICLE 7. Deputy Coordinator

The Deputy Coordinator supports the Coordinator in carrying out their functions, replacing him or her if absent or in the event of being prevented from doing their work:

a) Dealing with issues related to information and propaganda and the dissemination of the activities of the CNAC and the Cooperative Movement in general;

b) Establishing connections between the CNAC and foreign or international counterpart organizations.

ARTICLE 8. National Advisory Council

1. The National Consultative Council is a consultative body of the National Commission of Support for Cooperatization in which are represented, in addition to the members of the CNAC, the following bodies of the Party, the State and the Social and Mass Organizations, which are responsible for implementing the Party’s guidelines on rural development in general and the cooperative movement more particularly:

a) Organization Department of the Central Committee

b) The Central Committee's Department for Youth and Support for Mass and Social Organizations;

c) The Central Committee's Department for Economic and Social Policy;

d) The Central Committee's Department for the Productive Sector;

e) Department for the Productive Sector of the Party's National Youth Secretariat;

f) Department for Productive Work of the National Secretariat of the OMA;

g) Ministry of Agriculture;

h) Ministry of Internal Trade;

i) Ministry of Health;

j) Ministry of Education;

k) Secretary of State for Social Affairs;

l) National Literacy Center.

2. Other bodies that the CNAC deems indispensable for its proper functioning may join the National Advisory Council.

3. The National Advisory Council is responsible for:

a) Making programs compatible and controlling their execution;

b) Supporting and issuing opinions and suggestions that contribute to strengthening the cooperative movement in the countryside;

c) Sensitizing both state bodies and mass and social organizations to the solution of peasant problems in a coordinated and harmonious manner.

4. The National Consultative Council meets ordinarily twice a year and extraordinarily when the CNAC deems it necessary, upon the convocation of the Coordinator.

ARTICLE 9. Department for the Organization of the Cooperative Movement

The Department for the Organization of the Cooperative Movement is responsible for:

1. Guiding and controlling the integration of rural workers into their cooperatives and associations.

2. Guiding and controlling the structuring of the cooperative movement from the bottom up, as well as supporting other actions aimed at creating the National Union of Angolan Peasantry (UNACA).

3. Drawing up draft rules and directives on organizational issues in the cooperative movement.

4. Dealing with the organizational issues of the cooperative movement, in particular the preparation and monitoring of meetings and assemblies at all levels.

5. Carrying out studies and drawing up proposals for the growth of the cooperative movement.

6. Raising awareness and mobilizing organized peasants for the tasks of popular defense and vigilance, in close collaboration with the competent bodies.

7. Keeping up-to-date files and statistics on organizational activities, from the bottom up.

8. Proposing measures for the training and development of cadres.

9. Guiding, planning and controlling the activity of activists and ensuring that their cultural, political-ideological and professional levels are raised.

10. Drawing up its quarterly activity plan in a coordinated manner, reporting on its fulfillment to the Coordination of the CNAC on a monthly basis.

11. Studying and proposing ways to improve the functional organization of the Department, developing working methods that allow for the use of initiatives and the active participation of all its components.

12. Systematically and methodologically supporting the corresponding Provincial Sections, through meetings and periodic support and monitoring visits.

13. Carrying out other tasks determined by the CNAC.

ARTICLE 10. Economic Development Department

The Economic Development Department is responsible for:

1. Guiding and coordinating all material and technical support programs aimed at developing the cooperative movement in the countryside.

2. Drawing up and submitting to the CNAC for approval the most appropriate mechanisms for guiding and controlling the practical implementation of production, marketing, technical and material supply and financial support plans.

3. Studying and proposing the most expedient forms of coordination between the economic structures of the state apparatus geared towards intervention in the countryside and peasant cooperatives and associations.

4. Maintaining close working relations with state bodies, particularly those which have a direct role to play in the transformation and development of production relations in the countryside.

5. Carrying out studies and drawing up proposals and suggestions with a view to improving the price system for goods intended for sale in the countryside and for agricultural products.

6. Contributing to the rational use of the human, material and technical resources allocated to peasant organizations, in order to increase production and productivity.

7. Issuing opinions on draft plans for the peasant sector in the field of production, supply and investment.

8. Issuing opinions on economic aid programs directed at the peasant sector by international organizations and to monitor their implementation.

9. Proposing organizational and other measures to enable the gradual integration of farmers' cooperatives and associations into the rural retail network.

10. Participating in meetings and seminars promoted by state bodies, where issues related to the economic life of cooperatives and peasant associations are dealt with.

11. Guiding the strengthening of the Management and Control Committees of cooperatives and peasant associations, with a view to greater control over production and the use of revenue.

12. Drawing up, in a coordinated manner, its quarterly Plan of Activities, reporting on its fulfillment each month to the Coordination of the CNAC.

13. Studying and proposing ways of improving the functional organization of the Department, developing working methods that allow initiatives to be taken advantage of and the active participation of all its components.

14. Systematically and methodologically supporting the corresponding Provincial Sections, through meetings and periodic support and monitoring visits.

15. Carrying out other tasks determined by the CNAC.

ARTICLE 11. Department for Social Development

The Social Development Department is responsible for:

1. Supporting all actions aimed at social development in rural areas in general and, in particular, of peasants organized in cooperatives and associations.

2. Studying and proposing the most appropriate forms of social support for rural areas.

3. Systematically monitoring and coordinating all programs aimed at social welfare in the countryside, in particular education programs, the fight against illiteracy, public health, and medical assistance and cultural activities.

4. Issuing opinions on draft plans for the rural sector in the field of education, health, literacy, and other social activities.

5. Issuing opinions on aid programs from international organizations aimed at the social development of the countryside and monitoring their implementation.

6. Developing good relations of collaboration and coordination with state, mass and social organizations, in order to take advantage of their capacities and initiatives for social development actions in the countryside.

7. Guiding the strengthening of the Management and Control Committees of cooperatives and peasant associations, with the objective of greater integration and control of the social actions being carried out in rural areas.

8. Drawing up its quarterly plan of activities in a coordinated manner, reporting monthly to the CNAC Coordination.

9. Studying and proposing ways to improve the functional organization of the Department, developing working methods that allow for the use of initiatives and the active participation of all its components.

10. Systematically and methodologically supporting the Provincial Sections, through meetings and periodic support and monitoring visits.

11. Carrying out other tasks determined by the CNAC.

ARTICLE 12. Department of Adminstration and Services

The Administration and Services Department is responsible for:

1. Managing CNAC funds.

2. Methodologically guiding the handling of the funds at the disposal of the Provincial Commission of Support for Cooperatization and ensuring the permanent rational use of these funds.

3. Organizing the administrative system within the CNAC, as well as guiding and periodically controlling its documentation and assets.

4. Making receipts, payments, and the respective accounting entries.

5. Studying and proposing a simple accounting system for the management of farmers' cooperatives and associations.

6. Receiving donations (without any customs, storage, or shipping problems).

7. Supporting the members of the CNAC and the Provincial Commission of Support for Cooperatization when they travel on business.

8. Coordinating the reception and use of invitations from other countries and international organizations, as well as proposing visits to friendly countries to exchange experiences.

9. Drawing up its quarterly activity plan in a coordinated manner, reporting on its fulfillment to the CNAC Coordination on a monthly basis.

10. Studying and proposing ways of improving the functional organization of the Department, developing working methods that allow initiatives to be taken advantage of as well as the active participation of all its components.

11. Systematically and methodologically supporting the corresponding Provincial Sections, through meetings and periodic support and monitoring visits.

12. Carrying out other tasks as determined by the CNAC.

SECTION II. LOWER LEVEL STRUCTURES

ARTICLE 13.

1. In each province there will be a Provincial Commission to Support Cooperatization, organically and hierarchically dependent on the Executive Commission of the Provincial Party Committee and methodologically guided by the CNAC; it will have the same attributions and competences at its level.

1. In each province there will be a Provincial Commission of Support for Cooperatization, organically and hierarchically dependent on the Executive Commission of the Provincial Party Committee and methodologically guided by the CNAC; it will have the same attributions and competences at its level.

2. The Provincial Commissions of Support for Cooperatization are coordinated by the Secretaries of the Provincial Party Committees for Agrarian Policy.

3. The organic and hierarchical structure and the way in which they operate will be the subject of their own regulations, generally in line with those of the CNAC, and may be adapted to the specific conditions of the respective areas of operation, after agreement by the CNAC and the respective Provincial Party Committees.

ARTICLE 14. Lower Grades

1. At levels lower than that of the Province, and whenever the development of the cooperative movement so warrants, structures identical to those of the CNAC and CPAC should be created, subordinating them from an organic and hierarchical point of view to the Party Committee of the corresponding level and, from a methodological point of view, to the equivalent body of the higher level.

2. Coordination of structures at levels lower than that of the Province should be undertaken whenever possible by the 1st Party Secretary of the corresponding level.

3. The organizational and hierarchical structure and the way in which the Commissions in the lower echelons function will be the subject to separate regulations to be drawn up in accordance with rules as defined by the CNAC.

CHAPTER III. Working Methods

ARTICLE 15. Rules of Procedure

In carrying out its duties, the CNAC observes the following rules of action:

a) The CNAC assists the Party Directorate in guiding and directing the Cooperative Movement, monitoring compliance with the decisions of the Party's higher organs;

b) The CNAC does not have the power to draw up or implement policy on its own, rather it helps the Party's higher organs draw up the policy and guidelines to be applied to the cooperative movement in the countryside, coordinating their practical application with the implementing bodies of the State and of the Mass and Social Organizations and informing the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the functioning of the bodies responsible for implementing the policy drawn up.

ARTICLE 16. Relations with Provincial Structures

The CNAC's relations with provincial and local structures are exercised as follows:

a) Control, through visits, inspections, or information on compliance with the guidelines and directives of higher bodies;

b) Monitoring the application of management principles and correct working methods;

c) Support in drawing up work plans, formulating proposals and constantly improving the organization and passing on experiences and methodological guidelines.

ARTICLE 17. Relations with State Bodies

1. The CNAC does not direct the bodies of the state apparatus that have a direct role to play in the development of the cooperative movement, nor can it give them directives or interfere with or replace them in their administrative activities.

2. The coordination and control of the activities of these bodies with regard to actions in the field shall be carried out as follows:

a) Studying and analyzing the programs and reports and other documents sent to the CNAC on its initiative or at its express request, preparing the proposals and suggestions it deems appropriate for the CC Secretariat;

b) Convening and participating in meetings with state bodies and others, with a view to integrating activities related to the rural environment, particularly the cooperative movement.

ARTICLE 18. Relations with Mass Organizations

In order to better achieve its objectives, the CNAC must maintain close working relations:

a) With the UNTA and its trade unions, especially those of agro-livestock and coffee workers, in tasks that contribute to strengthening labor relations and the worker-peasant alliance;

b) With the OMA, with a view to solving the problems affecting the lives and work of peasant women, overcoming them and integrating them into higher forms of production;

c) With the OPA, to work with the children of peasants, through cultural, recreational and sporting activities and to foster a liking for productive work;

d) With the BPV, for all the tasks deemed appropriate, with a view to guaranteeing the security of production areas;

ARTICLE 19. Meetings of the CNAC

1. The CNAC will meet monthly, under the guidance of its Coordinator, in order to:

a) Discuss and analyze general issues related to its activity and the functioning of the Departments;

b) Plan and coordinate actions relating to the organization and development of the cooperative movement;

c) Analyze other issues deemed pertinent.

2. Whenever necessary, other CNAC officials may take part in these meetings.

3. The notice and agenda of meetings must be distributed three days in advance, and Section Heads or other officials may suggest the inclusion of items for discussion on the agenda.

4. Extraordinary meetings may be held whenever necessary.

ARTICLE 20. National Meetings

1. The CNAC shall hold national meetings with the aim of:

a) Taking stock of the activity carried out;

b) Planning and coordinating actions for the following period;

c) Transmitting methodological guidelines for the functioning of provincial structures.

2. The National Meeting is held at least once a year, or whenever necessary, at the call of the CNAC Coordinator.

3. The National Meeting is attended by:

a) CNAC Coordinator;

b) Deputy Coordinator of the CNAC;

c) The heads of the CNAC departments;

d) The CP AC Coordinators;

e) Other staff from the different levels whose participation is deemed appropriate.

ARTICLE 21. Other Meetings

1. The CNAC may promote the holding of National Assemblies of Organized Peasants with the aim of:

a) Assessing the degree of participation of peasants in the Cooperative Movement;

b) Hearing the opinions of peasants on the organization and development of the Cooperative Movement;

c) Promoting solidarity between peasants in the country's various provinces, with a view to integrating them into the future National Union of Angolan Peasants.

2. The CNAC shall in due course establish a methodology for holding National Assemblies.

CHAPTER IV. Workers and Collaborators

SECTION I. STATUTE OF WORKERS

ARTICLE 22. Employees and Collaborators

1. CNAC departments are made up of employees and collaborators.

2. CNAC employees are members and non-members of the MPLA-Workers’ Party or the Party's Youth who work professionally at the CNAC.

ARTICLE 23. Collaborators

1. The CNAC's collaborators are cadres who, while working professionally in other Party, State or Mass and Social Organizations, provide their occasional collaboration to the CNAC.

2. Collaborators may be appointed on a permanent or temporary basis to carry out specific tasks.

3. The appointment or dismissal of collaborators is subject to the approval of the CNAC Coordinator.

ARTICLE 24. Labor Classification

1. For employment purposes, CNAC staff are grouped into three categories: managerial staff, administrative staff and technical staff.

2. CNAC officials will be paid their salaries by the Central Committee's Administration and Finance Department, until such time as the conditions are met for the CNAC to take on this task.

3. The system of collaboration provided for here is not remunerated.

SECTION II. RIGHTS AND DUTIES

ARTCLE 25. Rights

CNAC officials have the right to:

a) Receive the remuneration corresponding to their professional category;

b) Be provided with adequate conditions to increase their work performance;

c) Benefit from the courses necessary to increase their level of political and technical-professional training;

d) Present proposals and suggestions to improve the functioning and activity of the CNAC;

e) Benefit from established social rights.

ARTICLE 26. Duties

CNAC employees have the following duties:

a) Comply with orders and instructions of the superiors, respecting the CNAC hierarchy;

b) Take scrupulous care of CNAC property entrusted to their care, preventing and taking responsibility for its disappearance or deterioration;

c) Be exemplary in punctuality, attendance and discipline;

d) Constantly strive to raise political, cultural and professional standards;

e) Keep confidential matters dealt with in the workplace.

SECTION III. DISCIPLINE

ARTICLE 27. Disciplinary Responsibility

CNAC officials are subject to the Disciplinary Regulations of the MPLA-Workers’ Party and in the event of non-compliance or violation of their provisions or of resolutions and directives of higher organs, abuse of their functions, or behavior that damages the name and prestige of the Party and of the CNAC, they are subject to party and disciplinary sanctions.

ARTICLE 28. Party Sanctions

The party sanctions and their applications are those regulated in articles 20 to 30 of the Statutes of the MPLA-Workers’ Party or in articles 14 to 16 of the Statutes of the JMPLA - Youth of the Party, in the case of a member of the latter.

ARTICLE 29. Disciplinary Sanctions

CNAC employees are subject to the disciplinary regime enshrined in the General Labor Law and complementary diplomas.

ARTIGO 30. Provisional Suspension

In the event of serious indiscipline by a CNAC employee, the CNAC Coordinator, depending on the category of the offender, may immediately suspend the employee from the performance of his/her duties, and the suspension shall continue until a final decision has been taken, with the employee continuing to receive his/her wages for a period of 60 days.

CHAPTER V. Funds

ARTICLE 31. Constitution

1. The CNAC shall set up a single fund to cover the costs of organizing the Cooperative Movement in the countryside.

2. This single fund shall be constituted on the basis of:

a) Contributions from peasants associated through the CPACs;

b) Donations from foreign and international organizations.

3. The handling of contributions shall be the subject of specific regulations to be established by the CNAC.

ARTICLE 32. Transactions

The CNAC's single fund shall be managed by the Department for Administration and Services and shall be handled by its head and the CNAC Coordinator jointly.

CHAPTER VI. Final and Transitional Provisions

ARTICLE 33. Termination

1. The CNAC shall be extinguished by resolution of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the MPLA-Workers’ Party.

2. Proposals for changes to its structure, composition and attribution shall be submitted by the CNAC to the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the MPLA-Workers’ Party for a decision.

ARTICLE 34. Doubts and Omissions

Any doubts raised in the interpretation and application of these Regulations, as well as any omissions, shall be resolved by the Secretariat of the Central Committee.

The Minister, Fernando José de França Dias Van-Dunem.

REGULATION OF THE PROVINCIAL COMMISSION TO SUPPORT COOPERATIZATION

CHAPTER 1. General Provisions

SECTION I.

ARTICLE 1. Definition

The Provincial Commission of Support for Cooperatization, abbreviated to CPAC, is a collective body, of a provisional nature, created by the Secretary of the Central Committee of the MPLA-Workers’ Party, with the aim of guiding, framing and directing the cooperative movement in the province, promoting the conditions for the emergence of the National Union of Angolan Peasantry (UNACA).

ARTICLE 2. Dependence

The Provincial Commission of Support for Cooperatization depends on the Executive Commission of the Provincial Party Committee, and is coordinated by the Secretary for Agrarian Policy of the Provincial Party Committee.

SECTION II. DUTIES AND PRINCIPLES

ARTICLE 3. Duties

The Provincial Commission of Support for Cooperatization generally has the following duties:

a) To guide its action in accordance with the guidelines of the MPLA-Workers’ Party in the political, economic and social domains and in accordance with the methodological guidelines of the National Commission of Support for Cooperatization;

b) To guide and direct the peasant organizations in the fulfilment of the RPA's economic objectives, particularly in the field of agrarian policy, production plans, supply, and marketing;

c) To carry out persistent and systematic work among peasants to raise their awareness, mobilize them and bring them together in support organizations, with a view to their progressive evolution towards superior forms of organizing production and consumption;

d) Initiate actions to systematically raise the political, cultural, and technical level of peasants;

e) Consolidate the worker-peasant alliance through concrete forms of cooperation;

f) To guide peasants in the rational and correct use of the financial and technical resources that may be granted to them;

g) To promote campaigns to enlighten and raise awareness so that peasants can participate more actively and consciously in the tasks of defense and popular vigilance;

h) To promote training and development of cadres in various fields, with a view to the future creation and operation of UNACA;

i) Promoting the creation of Municipal Commissions of Support for Cooperatization and provide methodological guidance for their activities;

j) To disseminate, through mass media and other means in the province, the actions carried out by the peasants at this stage of their organization process, in the most diverse areas;

l) To present to the National Commission of Support for Cooperatization proposals for projects and programs for intervention with Peasant Cooperatives and Associations, with a view to obtaining various forms of support from foreign and international organizations;

m) To propose to the National Commission of Support for Cooperatization ways and methods for improving the organization of the structure itself and of the cooperative movement in the province;

n) Participate in the National Meetings called by the National Commission of Support for Cooperatization.

ARTICLE 4. Principles

The Provincial Commission of Support for Cooperatization is guided by the following organizational and methodological principles:

a) Strict discipline in complying with the organic principles and statutory and parliamentary provisions, as well as the resolutions and directives of the Higher Bodies;

b) Practicing and encouraging collective work and a spirit of mutual help;

c) Planning the work and rigorously monitoring its execution;

d) Close and permanent liaison with the Municipal Commissions of Support for Cooperatization, through sharing information;

e) Close and permanent liaison with state bodies and Mass and Social organizations based in the province.

CHAPTER II. Organic Structure

SECTION 1. PROVINCIAL STRUCTURE

ARTCLE 5. Constitution

1. The Provincial Commission of Support for Cooperatization (CPAC) is made up as follows:

a) Coordinator;

b) Provincial Advisory Council;

c) Section for the Organization of the Cooperative Movement;

d) Economic Development Section;

e) Social Development Section;

f) Administration and Services Section;

2. When the volume and complexity of the tasks so justify, the Sections may be subdivided into subsections, headed by a Head of Subsection.

3. Subsections are created by decision of the National Commission of Support for Cooperatization, on the proposal of each Provincial Commission.

ARTICLE 6. Coordinator

1. The Coordinator of the Provincial Commission of Support for Cooperatization is the Secretary of the Provincial Committee of the Party for Agrarian Policy, and is its head and represents it before the Organs of the Party and the State at their level and before the National Commission of Support for Cooperatization.

2. The Coordinator is responsible for:

a) Directing, guiding and supervising the activities of the Provincial Commission of Support for Cooperatization, and being accountable to the Executive Committee of the Provincial Party Committee and the National Commission of Support for Cooperatization for their proper performance;

b) Calling and chairing meetings of the Provincial Commission of Support for Cooperatization and the Provincial Consultative Council;

c) Ensuring that the Work Plan of the Provincial Commission of Support for Cooperatization is drawn up, complied with and monitored, reporting on its compliance on a quarterly basis to the Executive Committee of the Provincial Party Committee and to the National Commission of Support for Cooperatization;

d) Ensuring the correct application of the methods and principles of scientific leadership, in particular democratic centralism, collective leadership and individual responsibility;

e) Guiding and controlling, in a coordinated manner, the work of the Heads of Sections;

f) Proposing to the Executive Committee of the Provincial Party Committee the appointment or dismissal of Section Heads, as well as appointing or dismissing Sub-Section Heads, other officials and collaborators;

g) Representing the Provincial Commission of Support for Cooperatization in all acts and before provincial and national bodies and organizations;

h) Handling, together with the Coordinator of the Section for Administration and Services, the accounts of the Provincial Commission of Support for Cooperatization;

i) Dealing with issues related to information and propaganda and the dissemination of the activities of the Provincial Commission of Support for Cooperatization and the cooperative movement in general.

ARTICLE 7. Provincial Advisory Council

1. The Provincial Consultative Council is a consultative body of the Provincial Commission of Support for Cooperatization, in which, in addition to the members of the Commission, the following bodies of the Party, the State and the Mass Organizations, responsible for implementing the Party's guidelines on rural development in general and in particular on the cooperative movement, are represented:

a) Department for Organization of the Provincial Committee of the Party;

b) Department for Economic and Social Development of the Provincial Party Committee;

c) Department for the Productive Sector of the Provincial Youth Secretariat of the Party;

d) Department for Productive Work of the WCO Provincial Secretariat;

e) Provincial Delegation for Agriculture;

f) Provincial Delegation for Internal Trade;

g) Provincial Health Delegation;

h) Provincial Education Delegation;

i) Provincial Delegation for Social Affairs;

j) Provincial Literacy Center.

2. The Provincial Consultative Council may include other bodies that the Provincial Commission of Support for Cooperatization deems indispensable for its proper functioning.

3. The Provincial Advisory Council is responsible for:

a) Make compatible and controlling the execution of provincial programs;

b) Supporting and issuing opinions and suggestions that contribute to strengthening the cooperative movement in the province;

c) Sensitizing both state bodies and Mass and Social Organizations to the solution of peasant problems in a coordinated and harmonious manner.

4. The Provincial Consultative Council meets ordinarily four times a year and extraordinarily when the Provincial Commission of Support for Cooperatization sees fit, at the request of the Coordinator.

ARTICLE 8. Section for the Organization of the Cooperative Movement

The Section for the Organization of the Cooperative Movement is responsible for:

1. Guiding and controlling the framing of peasants in their cooperatives and associations.

2. Guiding and controlling the structuring of the cooperative movement from the bottom up, as well as supporting other actions aimed at creating the National Union of Angolan Peasantry (UNACA).

3. Drawing up proposals for draft rules and guidelines on organizational issues of the cooperative movement in the province and submit them to the National Commission of Support for Cooperatization.

4. Dealing with the organizational issues of the cooperative movement, namely the preparation and follow-up of meetings and assemblies at all levels.

5. Carrying out studies and drawing up proposals for the growth of the cooperative movement in the province and submit them to the National Commission of Support for Cooperatization.

6. Raising awareness and mobilizing organized peasants for the tasks of popular defense and vigilance, in close collaboration with the relevant bodies.

7. Keeping up-to-date files and statistics on organizational activities, from the bottom up.

8. Making proposals for the training and development of cadres in the province, in accordance with the guidelines of the National Commission of Support for Cooperatization.

9. Guiding, planning and controlling the activists' activities and ensuring that their cultural, political-ideological and professional levels are raised.

10. Drawing up its quarterly plan of activities in a coordinated manner, reporting on its compliance on a monthly basis to the Coordination of the Provincial Commission to Support Cooperativization, as well as to the corresponding Department of the National Commission of Support for Cooperatization.

11. Studying and proposing ways of improving the functional organization of the Section, developing working methods that allow for the use of initiatives and the active participation of all its members.

12. Systematically and methodologically supporting the corresponding municipal sections, through meetings and periodic support and monitoring visits.

13. Carrying out other tasks determined by the Provincial Commission of Support for Cooperatization.

ARTICLE 9. Section for Economic Development

The Economic Development Section is responsible for:

1. Guiding and coordinating all material and technical support programs aimed at developing the cooperative movement in the province.

2. Drawing up and submitting to the Coordination for approval the most appropriate mechanisms for guiding and controlling the practical implementation of production, marketing, technical and material supply and financial support plans.

3. Study and proposing the most expedient forms of coordination between the economic structures of the state apparatus geared towards intervention in the countryside and the Peasant Cooperatives and Associations.

4. Maintaining close working relations with state bodies, in particular those that have a direct role to play in the transformation and development of production relations in the countryside.

5. Contribute to the rational use of the human, material and technical resources allocated to peasant organizations, in order to increase production and productivity.

6. Issuing opinions on draft plans for the peasant sector in the field of production, supply, and investment.

7. Issuing opinions and reporting regularly on the implementation of projects and support programs aimed at the peasant sector in the province by foreign and international organizations.

8. Proposing organizational and other measures to enable the gradual integration of farmer cooperatives and associations into the rural retail network.

9. Participating in meetings and seminars promoted by state bodies, where issues related to the economic life of Peasant Cooperatives and Associations are dealt with.

10. Guiding the strengthening of the Management and Control Committees of the Peasant Associations and Cooperatives with a view to greater control of production and the use of income.

11. Drawing up, in a coordinated manner, its Quarterly Plan of activities, reporting on its compliance on a monthly basis to the Coordination of the Provincial Commission of Support for Cooperatization, as well as to the corresponding Department of the National Commission of Support for Cooperatization.

12. Studying and proposing ways to improve the functional organization of the Section, developing working methods that allow for the use of initiatives and the active participation of all its members.

13. Systematically and methodologically supporting the corresponding Municipal Sections, through meetings and periodic support and monitoring visits.

14. Carrying out other tasks as determined by the Provincial Commission of Support for Cooperatization.

ARTICLE 10. Section for Social Development

The Social Development Section is responsible for:

1. Supporting all actions aimed at social development in the rural environment in general and, in particular, of peasants organized in Cooperatives and Associations.

2. Studying and proposing the most appropriate forms of social support for rural areas in the province.

3. Systematically monitor and coordinate all programs aimed at social welfare in the countryside, namely programs to combat illiteracy, public health and medical assistance and cultural activities.

4. Issuing opinions on draft provincial plans for the rural sector in the field of education, health, illiteracy, and other social activities.

5. Issuing opinions and reporting regularly on the implementation of aid programs by international organizations aimed at the social development of the countryside in the province.

6. Developing good relations of collaboration and coordination with State, Social and Mass and Organizations, in order to take advantage of their capacities and initiatives for social development actions in the countryside.

7. Encouraging the strengthening of the Management and Control Committees of Cooperatives and Rural Associations, with a view to intervening in the social development of the countryside, with a view to a more integrated intervention and control of the social actions to be carried out in rural areas.

8. Drawing up, in a coordinated manner, its Quarterly Plan of activities, reporting on its compliance on a monthly basis to the Coordination of the Provincial Commission of Support for Cooperatization, as well as to the corresponding Department of the National Commission of Support for Cooperatization.

9. Studying and proposing ways to improve the functional organization of the Section, developing working methods that allow for the use of initiatives and the active participation of all its members.

10. Systematically and methodologically supporting the Municipal Sections through meetings and periodic support and monitoring visits.

11. Carrying out other tasks determined by the Provincial Commission of Support for Cooperatization.

ARTICLE 11. Administration and Services Section

The Administration and Services Section is responsible for:

1. Managing the funds of the Provincial Commission of Support for Cooperatization.

2. Providing methodological guidance on the handling of funds available to the Municipal Commissions of Support for Cooperatization and ensure that these funds are used rationally at all times.

3. Organizing the administrative system within the Provincial Commission of Support for Cooperatization, as well as periodically monitoring and controlling its documentation and assets.

4. Making receipts, payments and the respective accounting entries.

5. Supporting the members of the National Commission of Support for Cooperatization and the Provincial and Municipal Commissions of Support for Cooperatization when they are on business.

6. Draw uping, in a coordinated manner, its quarterly plan of activities, reporting on its compliance on a monthly basis to the Coordination of the Provincial Commission of Support for Cooperatization, and to the corresponding Department of the National Commission of Support for Cooperatization.

7. Studying and proposing ways to improve the functional organization of the Section, developing working methods that allow for the use of initiatives and the active participation of all its members.

8. Systematically and methodologically supporting the corresponding Municipal Sections, through meetings and periodic support and monitoring visits.

9. Carrying out other tasks determined by the Provincial Commission of Support for Cooperatization.

SECTION II. LOWER LEVEL STRUCTURES

ARTICLE 12. The Municipal Commissions of Support for Cooperatization

1. In each municipality there will be a Municipal Commission of Support for Cooperatization, organically and hierarchically dependent on the Executive Committee of the Municipal Party Committee and methodologically guided by the Provincial Commission of Support for Cooperatization, with the same duties and powers at its level.

2. The Municipal Commissions of Support for Cooperatization are coordinated whenever possible by the First Secretaries of the Municipal Party Committees.

3. The organic and hierarchical structure and mode of operation will be the subject of their own regulations, generally following those of the Provincial Commission of Support for Cooperatization, and may be adapted to the specific conditions of the respective areas of operation, after agreement by the Provincial Commission of Support for Cooperatization and the respective Provincial Party Committees.

CHAPTER III. Working Methods

ARTICLE 13. Rules of Procedure

In carrying out its duties, the Provincial Commission of Support for Cooperatization observes the following rules of action:

a) The Provincial Commission of Support for Cooperatization assists the Party Directorate of its rank, in guiding and directing the Cooperative Movement in the Province, controlling compliance with the decisions of the higher Organs;

b) The Provincial Commission of Support for Cooperatization does not have the power to draw up or implement policy on its own, but helps the Party's higher organs to draw up the policy and guidelines to be applied to the cooperative movement in the countryside, coordinating their practical application with the implementing bodies of the State and the Mass and Social Organizations and informing the Executive Committee of the Provincial Party Committee of the functioning of the bodies responsible for implementing the policy drawn up.

ARTICLE 14. Relations with Municipal Structures

The relations of the Provincial Commission of Support for Cooperatization with municipal and local structures are as follows:

a) Control, through visits, inspections or information on compliance with the guidelines and directives of higher bodies;

b) Monitoring the application of management principles and correct working methods;

c) Support in drawing up work plans, formulating proposals and constantly improving the organization and passing on experience and methodological guidelines.

ARTICLE 15. Relations with State Organizations

1. The Provincial Commission of Support for Cooperatization does not direct the bodies of the state apparatus that are directly involved in the development of the cooperative movement, nor can it give them directives or interfere with or replace them in their administrative activities.

2. The coordination and control of the activities of these bodies with regard to actions in the field is carried out as follows:

a) Studying and analysing the programmes and reports and other documents sent to the Provincial Commission of Support for Cooperatization on its initiative or at its express request, drawing up the proposals and suggestions it deems appropriate for the Executive Commission of the Provincial Party Committee;

b) Convene and participate in meetings with state bodies and others, with a view to integrating activities related to the rural environment, namely the cooperative movement in the province.

ARTICLE 16. Relations with Mass Organizations

In order to better achieve its objectives, the Provincial Cooperative Support Commission should maintain close working relations:

a) With UNTA and its trade unions, especially those of agro-livestock and coffee workers in tasks that contribute to strengthening labor relations and the worker-peasant alliance;

b) With OMA, in attempts to solving the problems affecting the lives and work of peasant women, overcoming them and integrating them into higher forms of production;

c) With OPA, to work with peasants' children, through cultural, recreational and sporting activities and to foster a desire for productive work;

d) With BPV, for all the tasks deemed appropriate with a view to guaranteeing the security of production areas.

ARTICLE 17. Meetings of the Provincial Commission for Support of Cooperatization

1. The Provincial Commission of Support for Cooperatization will meet monthly, under the guidance of its Coordinator, with the aim of:

a) Discussing and analyzing general issues related to its activity and the functioning of the Sections;

b) Planning and coordinating actions relating to the organization and development of the cooperative movement in the province;

c) Analyzing other issues deemed pertinent.

2. Whenever necessary, other officials from the Provincial Commission of Support for Cooperatization may take part in these meetings.

3. The notice and Agenda for meetings must be distributed three days in advance, and Sub-Section Heads or other officials may suggest the inclusion of items for discussion on the Agenda.

4. Extraordinary meetings may be held whenever necessary.

ARTICLE 18. Provincial Meetings

1. The Provincial Commission of Support for Cooperatization shall hold provincial meetings with the aim of:

a) Taking stock of the activity carried out;

b) Planning and coordinating actions for the following period;

c) Providing methodological guidelines for the operation of municipal structures.

2. The Provincial Meeting is held at least twice a year, or whenever necessary, at the request of the Coordinator of the Provincial Commission of Support for Cooperatization.

3. The Provincial Meeting is attended by:

a) The Coordinator of the Provincial Commission of Support for Cooperatization;

b) The Heads of Sections of the Provincial Commission of Support for Cooperatization;

c) The Coordinators of the Municipal Commissions of Support for Cooperatization;

d) Other staff from the different levels whose participation is deemed appropriate.

ARTICLE 19. Other Meetings

1. The Provincial Commission of Support for Cooperatization may promote the holding of Provincial Assemblies of Organized Peasants with the aim of:

a) Assessing the degree of participation of peasants in the Cooperative Movement in the Province;

b) To listen to peasants' opinions on the organization and development of the Cooperative Movement in the province;

c) Promote solidarity and the exchange of experiences between peasant organizations in the various municipalities of the province, with a view to integrating them into the future National Union of Angolan Peasantry.

2. The National Commission of Support for Cooperatization shall establish the methodology for holding the Provincial Assemblies in due course.

CHAPTER IV. Employees and Collaborators

SECTION I. STATUS OF EMPLOYEES

ARTICLE 20. Officials and Employees

1. The Sections of the Provincial Commission of Support for Cooperatization are made up of officials and collaborators.

2. Members and non-members of the MPLA-Workers’ Party or the JMPLA-Youth of the Party who work professionally in the Provincial Commission of Support for Cooperatization are employees of the Provincial Commission of Support for Cooperatization.

ARTICLE 21. Collaborators

1. Collaborators of the Provincial Commission of Support for Cooperatization are cadres who, while working professionally in other Party, State or Mass and Social Organization bodies, provide their occasional collaboration to the Provincial Commission of Support for Cooperatization.

2. Collaborators may be appointed on a permanent or temporary basis to carry out specific tasks.

3. The appointment or dismissal of collaborators is subject to the approval of the Coordinator of the Provincial Commission of Support for Cooperatization.

ARTICLE 22. Labor Classification

1. The employees of the Provincial Commission of Support for Cooperatization are grouped, for employment purposes, into three cadres: managerial staff, administrative staff, and technical staff.

2. Employees of the Provincial Commission of Support for Cooperatization will be paid their salaries by the Administration and Finance Department of the Provincial Party Committee, until such time as the conditions are met for the Provincial Commission of Support for Cooperatization to take on this task.

3. The system of collaboration provided for here is not compulsorily remunerated.

SECTION II. RIGHTS AND DUTIES

ARTICLE 23. Rights

Employees of the Provincial Commission of Support for Cooperatization have the right to:

a) Receive the remuneration corresponding to their professional category;

b) Be provided with adequate conditions to increase their work income;

c) Benefit from the courses necessary to increase their level of political and technical-professional training;

d) Present proposals and suggestions to improve the functioning and activity of the Provincial Commission of Support for Cooperatization;

e) Benefit from established social rights.

ARTICLE 24. Duties

Employees of the Provincial Commission of Support for Cooperatization have the following duties:

a) Comply with superior orders and instructions, respecting the hierarchy of the Provincial Commission of Support for Cooperatization;

b) Take scrupulous care of the assets of the Provincial Commission of Support for Cooperatization entrusted to their care, preventing and taking responsibility for their disappearance or deterioration;

c) Be exemplary in punctuality, attendance and discipline;

d) Constantly strive to raise their political, cultural, and professional standards;

e) Maintain confidentiality with regard to matters dealt with in their workplace.

SECTION III. DISCIPLINE

ARTICLE 25. Disciplinary Responsibility

Employees of the Provincial Commission of Support for Cooperatization are subject to the Disciplinary Regulations of the MPLA-Workers’ Party and to these Regulations, and in the event of non-compliance or violation of their provisions or of resolutions and directives of higher bodies, abuse of their functions or behavior that damages the name and prestige of the Party and of the Provincial Commission of Support for Cooperatization, they are subject to party and disciplinary sanctions.

ARTICLE 26. Party Sanctions

The party sanctions and the way they are applied are those regulated in articles 20 to 30 of the MPLA-Workers’ Party Statutes or in articles 14 to 16 of the JMPLA-Youth Party Statutes, in the case of a member of the latter.

ARTICLE 27. Disciplinary Sanctions

Employees of the Provincial Commission of Support for Cooperatization are subject to the disciplinary regime enshrined in the General Labor Law and complementary statutes.

ARTICLE 28. Provisional Sanctions

In the event of serious indiscipline committed by an employee of the Provincial Commission of Support for Cooperatization, its Coordinator, depending on the category of the offender, may immediately suspend them from performing their duties, and the suspension shall continue until a final decision has been taken, and they shall continue to receive their salaries for a period of 60 days.

CHAPTER V. Funds

ARTICLE 29. Constitution

1. The Provincial Commission of Support for Cooperatization may set up a single fund to cover the costs of organizing the Movement in the province.

This single fund shall be constituted on the basis of:

a) Contributions from associated peasants;

b) Donations from national and international organizations.

2. The handling of contributions shall be the subject of specific regulations to be established by the National Commission of Support for Cooperatization.

ARTICLE 30. Management of Transfers

The single fund of the Provincial Commission of Support for Cooperatization shall be managed by the Administration and Services Section, and shall be handled jointly by its Head and the Coordinator of the Provincial Commission of Support for Cooperatization.

CHAPTER VI. Final and Transitional Provisions

ARTICLE 31. Termination

1. The Provincial Commission of Support for Cooperatization shall be extinguished by resolution of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the MPLA-Workers’ Party.

2. Proposals for changes to its structure, composition and powers shall be submitted by the National Commission of Support for Cooperatization to the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the MPLA-Workers’ Party for a decision, either at the suggestion of the Provincial Commission of Support for Cooperatization or by decision of the National Commission of Support for Cooperatization itself.

Article 32. Doubts and Omissions

Any doubts raised in the interpretation and application of these Rules, as well as any omissions, will be resolved by the Secretariat of the Central Committee.

The Minister, Fernando José de França Dias Van-Dúnem.

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Notes

1 . The MPLA was one of three liberation movements that fought against the Portuguese in the 1960s and 1970s before turning against one another at independence in 1975. Given its open embrace of socialism, the MPLA received the support of the Soviet Bloc until the early 1990s. It has been the ruling party of Angola uninterruptedly since 1975.

2 . The United States initially supported the FNLA before quickly throwing its support behind UNITA until it was finally cut off in mid-1993 after it continued to reject attempts at a ceasefire. See: Messiant (2004, 20); George (2005, 61).

3 . Concept attributed to Braudel (1949) and Chabod (1951). Refers to the study of states’ behaviour via their geography, demography, economic and financial power, but also ideologies, religion, nationalism, and pacifism.

4 . The “socialist” nature of the regime was ratified in October 1976 by the first Congress and was thus not written into the original Constitution of the Republic in 1975. See: Vidal and Andrade (2011, 15).

5 Also known as national gazettes or government gazettes.

6 . At the time of writing this article, the website has been down. Access attempted 28 June 2023, 4 July 2023, 25 Sept. 2023, 6 Oct. 2023, and 25 March 2024: http://www.imprensanacional.gov.ao. At the date of publication of this article, the site’s last functional archived web pages on web.archive.org date back to 2020. See: https://web.archive.org/web/20200801000000*/http://imprensanacional.gov.ao.

7 The online digital collection is available at: https://dw.angonet.org/.

8 All translations of official documents throughout the text are done by the author from Portuguese.

9 . Here the term is preserved in Portuguese in order to avoid confusion with the English equivalent, “municipality.” Though nearly identical in morphology, the term in English connotates structures run by locally elected officials. In Angola, the município administrators are appointed by the provincial government, whose governor, the top executive, is appointed by the president.

10 . The requirement of official approval was confirmed by the then-President of UNACA, Albano da Silva Lussati, during a semi-formal interview. Personal interview, 14 July 2017, Luanda.

11 . Defined as “the practice whereby international scientists, typically from higher-income countries, conduct field studies in another country, typically of lower income, and then complete their research in their home country without any further effective communication and engagement with others from that nation.” (Stefanoudis et al. 2021, 161).

12 . A notable exception is the in-depth doctoral study by Aaron de Grassi (2015) focused on the geography of cassava production in the province of Malanje.

13 . For a review of the government programmes, see for example section 3.3 “Investing Selectively.” For the role of NGOs and civil society, see for example sections 4.3, 4.4, 5.1 and 5.2 in Safarik (2020).

14 . Lexlink homepage (accessed 2022): https://www.lexlink.eu/informacao-juridica-de-angola/angola [archive].

15 . Even under its new name mentioning the “cooperatives,” the institution kept using the same acronym as far as I could verify during my field visit in 2017.

16 . According to the website of the Organização Cooperativista dos Países de Língua Portuguesa (OCPLP, Cooperativist Organization of Portuguese-speaking Countries): https://www.portalocplp.org/organizacoes/unaca [archive].

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List of illustrations

Title Document 1: Access request letter to National Archives of Angola
Credits Source: Author.Persistent identifier: https://doi.org/​10.34847/​nkl.3053qq4r.Download transcript and English translation (ODT format [10 KB], RTF format [65 KB]).
URL http://journals.openedition.org/sources/docannexe/image/1286/img-1.JPG
File image/jpeg, 1.0M
Title Document 2: Statute of Liga Angolana Cooperative
Caption Date listed as December 2, 1913.
Credits Source: Arquivo Nacional de Angola (Luanda).Persistent identifier: https://doi.org/​10.34847/​nkl.3053qq4r.Download transcript and English translation (ODT format [10 KB], RTF format [64 KB]).
URL http://journals.openedition.org/sources/docannexe/image/1286/img-2.JPG
File image/jpeg, 5.8M
Title Document 3: Cover of the “pre-project” statute of the União nacional dos camponeses angolanos (UNACA)
Caption Date unknown.
Credits Source: Archives of Development Workshop (Luanda).Persistent identifier: https://doi.org/​10.34847/​nkl.3053qq4r.
URL http://journals.openedition.org/sources/docannexe/image/1286/img-3.JPG
File image/jpeg, 51k
Title Document 4: Personal request for information letter to UNACA
Credits Source: Author.Persistent identifier: https://doi.org/​10.34847/​nkl.3053qq4r.Download transcript and English translation (ODT format [9 KB], RTF format [64 KB]).
URL http://journals.openedition.org/sources/docannexe/image/1286/img-4.JPG
File image/jpeg, 471k
Title Document 5: Personal request letter to National Printing Press
Credits Source: Author.Persistent identifier: https://doi.org/​10.34847/​nkl.3053qq4r.Download transcript and English translation (ODT format [10 KB], RTF format [67 KB]).
URL http://journals.openedition.org/sources/docannexe/image/1286/img-5.JPG
File image/jpeg, 1.1M
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References

Electronic reference

Brad Safarik, “Legal Gazettes as Historical Roadmaps for Researching the Cooperative Movement in Angola”Sources: Materials & Fieldwork in African Studies [Online], 7 | 2024, Online since 13 June 2024, connection on 07 July 2025. URL: http://journals.openedition.org/sources/1286; DOI: https://doi.org/10.4000/11tg2

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About the author

Brad Safarik

Université catholique de l’Ouest. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5752-5746

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Copyright

CC-BY-SA-4.0

The text only may be used under licence CC BY-SA 4.0. All other elements (illustrations, imported files) are “All rights reserved”, unless otherwise stated.

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