Isaias samakuva biography

Angolan politician

Isaías Henrique Ngola Samakuva (born 8 July 1946) is an Angolan politician who was the President of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) from June 2003 to November 2019.^[1]

After UNITA leader, Jonas Savimbi and his immediate successor António Dembo died from injuries sustained in a February 2002 firefight with Angolan government troops, Samakuva was elected as President of UNITA, which had transformed itself into a peaceful opposition party, in 2003.

Biography

Son of Henrique Ngola Samakuva and Rosália Ani Samakuva, Samakuva was born in Silva Porto-Gare (present Kunji), Bié Province.^[2]

In 1970, he was a professor at the Evangelical Mission House and then took a course in theology at the Seminary of Dondi, where he became an evangelical pastor.

He formally joined UNITA in 1974 and, a year later, he was admitted as an official of the Ministry of Labour in the Transitional Government o