After 38 years in power in which he led Angola through civil war and
an oil-fuelled boom, President José Eduardo dos Santos will step down at
the general elections this week.

 74 year old Santos has been president of Angola since September 1979 making him Africa’s third-longest serving leader.

Getting a replacement marks a great occasion for a country where most
people have known no other president. But critics however say with his
children in prominent positions in Angola, and the incoming president’s
powers weakened, Dos Santos is unlikely to be out of the picture.

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.

Just a month before the election, Angola’s parliament 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.
source: L.ikeji