63-year-old Joao Lourenco elected Angola’s president
The new president takes over from Jose Eduardo dos Santos who ruled the southern African nation since 1979.
Angola’s electoral authority on Wednesday declared Lourenco the winner of the August 31st vote having garnered 61.07 percent of the vote compared to his closest challenger, Isaías Samakuva, who garnered 26.67 percent.
The new president takes over from Jose Eduardo dos Santos who has ruled the southern African nation since 1979.
Joan run under the MPLA party and dos Santos is expected to continue to exerting influence as leader of the MPLA party.
Opposition groups have however claimed that the August poll suffered from problems from the very beginning, citing issues with voter registration, election day and vote counting.
Election observers have praised the poll as peaceful and orderly.
Before his election as president, Lourenco was Angola’s defense minister since 2014, having previously served as governor of the country’s largest province, Moxico.
He is expected to be sworn into office on September21.
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