Angola is bleeding. An oil-rich nation once flush with promise now stands on the
brink of collapse.

The economy has cratered—families scavenge to survive while connected elites luxuriate in stolen wealth. After decades of state plunder, inequality is jaw-dropping: almost half the population lives in poverty in a country blessed with immense natural riches.

Corruption oozes from the top; the former president’s family amassed fortunes abroad even as Angolan children went to bed hungry. And when ordinary citizens dare to voice their anger at this injustice, they are met with violence. From the streets of Luanda to the diamond fields of Lunda, peaceful protesters have been shot dead for demanding basic rights.

Unarmed young men kneeling with their hands in the air have been cut down by police bullets.

Mothers mourning sons, children orphaned by repression, are the awful prices of speaking out.

Angola is in crisis, its people pushed to the edge by economic ruin, corruption, and blood-stained oppression. How much longer can a proud nation endure such agony before something finally gives?

Angola’s turmoil is tragically ironic, because this nation won its freedom from
colonial rule through heroic struggle.

Among those freedom fighters was UNITA( National Union for the Total Independence of Angola) born in the 1960s with a vision of true liberty.

Jonas Savimbi and his followers formed UNITA to cast off Portuguese domination with independence in 1975. But the euphoria was short lived as what followed was a one-party tyranny.

UNITA refused to surrender the dream. Through a brutal civil war that lasted
decades, UNITA kept alive the hope of a pluralistic Angola.

Its legacy was written in sacrifice: guerrillas in the bush, communities that risked everything to reject MPLA’s authoritarian rule.

When the guns finally fell silent in 2002, UNITA laid down arms and
embraced democracy, transforming itself from rebel army into political opposition.

And today, UNITA remains the only real opposition force in Angola – the sole significant movement left that can rally the disenchanted masses. Every other would-be challenger has been co-opted, silenced, or diminished, but UNITA’s flame still burns.

It carries on its shoulders the aspirations of millions who yearn to end nearly fifty years of MPLA dictatorship.

History made UNITA the standard-bearer of Angolan democracy.

Now history has placed UNITA at the forefront once more, as the one vehicle capable of finally ending the nation’s long nightmare.

UNITA certainly has the strength to answer this call. Just look at its recent rise: in last year’s election, UNITA achieved its best result ever, nearly winning the presidency through the ballot box.

Roughly 44% of Angolans cast their votes for change, for UNITA’s vision of
a just Angola a stunning show of popular support that shook the ruling MPLA to its core.

For the first time, the opposition actually won in the capital, Luanda, along with other key provinces.

UNITA’s message of hope galvanized young and old alike, from the bustling
coastal cities to the remote heartland.

Its current leader, Adalberto Costa Júnior, proved himself a capable and charismatic mobiliser igniting crowds of frustrated youth and long-
suffering workers with promises of reform.

In parliament, UNITA’s ranks swelled, breaking the MPLA’s stranglehold super-majority and giving voice to those ignored for decades.

This party knows how to fight against the odds it has survived prison camps and battlefields, outlasted presidents and foreign meddling, and kept its integrity where others sold out.

UNITA has the moral capital of a movement that was forged in the struggle for freedom.

It has grassroots networks spread across the nation and a generation of Angolans who believe in its red-and-green flag as a symbol of hope.

By any measure, UNITA possesses the credibility, the organizational structure, and above all the people’s backing to lead Angola toward change.

Yet where is UNITA now, when Angola needs it most? In this moment of dire crisis, the party’s silence is deafening and its inaction perplexing.

After the disputed election, UNITA’s outrage fizzled into legal petitions and polite press conferences.

Its leaders ultimately took their seats in parliament under the very regime they accused of fraud, leaving many supporters feeling betrayed and angry.

What happened to the fearless UNITA of old?

This is the party that braved landmines and hunger in the bush for the ideal of a free nation.

This is the movement whose supporters risked everything to stand up to dictatorship.

Why, then, does UNITA’s leadership seem paralyzed now while the people cry out in the streets?

Day after day Angolans suffer jobs gone, prices soaring, voices silenced by intimidation and still UNITA hesitates, as if waiting for some perfect moment or permission that will never come.

Every week we hear of another indignity: activists arrested, protesters beaten or killed, poverty crushing more families.

How can UNITA watch this tragedy unfold and not roar in response?

Where is the courage, the urgency, the outrage? The truth is harsh: if UNITA
continues to bite its tongue and bide its time, it risks becoming irrelevant at the very hour its country desperately needs a champion.

The long years of civil war and political struggle will have been for nothing if, at the cusp of change, UNITA shrinks back.

The time for caution has passed. The time for bold resolve is here, right now, staring UNITA in the face.

UNITA must act – and act decisively – before it is too late. Words and parliamentary maneuvering are not enough; the moment demands action as daring as the challenges Angola faces.

First, UNITA should lead from the front in peaceful mass protests. The people are already in the streets, from Luanda’s sprawling musseques to the towns of the interior, risking life and limb to demand a better life. UNITA’s leaders belong there beside them, marshalling that popular anger into a focused, nonviolent movement for change.

Let the MPLA regime see tens of thousands of citizens united under UNITA’s leadership, refusing to be intimidated.

Second, UNITA must make its voice impossible to ignore. It should be flooding the airwaves, social media, and international forums with the truth about Angola’s suffering.

Every Angolan radio station and Facebook page should echo UNITA’s calls for justice; every instance of state brutality must be exposed to the world.

The regime thrives in darkness and silence – UNITA’s job is to shine a spotlight on every lie, every theft, every act of repression, rallying both national and global outrage.

Third, UNITA needs to build an unbreakable alliance for freedom.

Reach out to all facets of civil society – from church groups and labour
unions to student movements and other opposition voices – and even disillusioned members of the ruling party who love their country more than their position.

Forge a broad coalition that transcends old rivalries and ethnic divides, uniting everyone who believes Angola deserves better.

If UNITA spearheads a true united front, the dictatorship will find it much
harder to isolate or dismiss the resistance.

The tools of change are right there: people power in the streets, relentless pressure through media, and a broad unity of purpose across society.

UNITA only has to seize them with conviction. If not UNITA, who? If not now, when?

This is the question that hangs over Angola’s torment.

If not UNITA, who will lead Angola out of the darkness of despair? If not now, when will this endless suffering end?

The Angolan people have endured nearly half a century of broken promises and fear.

They cannot wait any longer. Every additional day of MPLA misrule means more children going hungry, more youths losing hope or even their lives, more families crushed by grief and poverty.

Angola stands at a crossroads that comes once in a generation. The window for change is open now but it will not stay open forever.

UNITA has before it a chance that even its legendary founder Savimbi never had: the chance to peacefully deliver the total independence and democracy that Angolans have dreamed of for decades.

UNITA can save Angola from this long nightmare of corruption and
cruelty.

The party still has the people’s trust and a moral duty to honor all those who
sacrificed for freedom.

But that chance means nothing unless UNITA rises to the occasion
with bold, decisive action.

History is watching, and so are 36 million Angolans desperately
praying for relief.

UNITA must not falter. UNITA has a real chance to save Angola – but
only if it acts boldly and decisively, and only if it acts now.

So it should not stop but fight until the end to save the people of Angola!

Fernades, a veteran journalist and commentator on public affairs wrote from
Launda.