President José Eduardo dos Santos will step down at the general elections this week after 38 years in power in which he led Angola through civil war and an oil-fuelled boom.
74 year old Santos has been president of Angola since September 1979 making him Africa’s third-longest serving leader.
The outgoing president willl be leaving his daughter, Isabel, thought to be Africa’s richest woman, in charge of Sonangol, the state oil company that has dominated the economy for decades, and a son, Jose Filomeno, chairing the country’s $5bn sovereign wealth fund and critics are saying the incoming president’s powers would be weakened.
Angola’s parliament just a month before the election passed a law that prohibits the new president from sacking the heads of the army, police and intelligence services for eight years.
Lawmakers also granted Dos Santos a seat on the Council of the Republic which gives him immunity from prosecution.
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