International News

Luanda, Nov 15 (AFP/APP):Angolan President Joao Lourenco on Wednesday fired his predecessor’s daughter from her influential post as head of the Sonangol state oil company, the presidency said in a statement. The sacking marks a watershed moment in Lourenco’s young presidency as he seeks to assert his authority and clear-out the legacy of his controversial predecessor Jose Eduardo dos Santos, who ruled with an iron grip for 38 years. Lourenco swept to power as the ruling party’s candidate in August elections after pledging to clean up Angola’s endemic graft, tackle nepotism and revive its listless economy. “Under the powers vested in him by the constitution, the president… has decided to relieve the following directors who make up the board of Sonangol,” said the statement, which named the former president’s daughter Isabel. During his campaign to win the presidency, Lourenco, the 63-year-old former defence minister, vowed to distance himself from his all-powerful predecessor who remains head of the ruling party. “Nobody will be above the law,” he told foreign media on the eve of his election victory. Known derisively as “the princess”, 44-year-old Isabel became the public face of the Dos Santos business empire during her father’s presidency.