News on public television broadcasted a full pronouncement of the Head of State and Government, João Lourenço, on the petition made to the head of the TC, Exalgina Gambôa, because “she ceased to have conditions for the exercise of her functions.”
Jornal de Angola, the newspaper with the largest national circulation, placed the issue on the front page under the headline “Head of State invites the president of the Court of Accounts to resign.”
“The behavior of the magistrate may compromise the normal functioning of the Court and ‘tarnish the good name of the Angolan Justice”, the executive’s statement said, without specifying the violations or irregularities incurred.
According to Jornal de Angola, Gambôa submitted a request for “early retirement” yesterday, citing health reasons that interfere negatively in the exercise of her functions.
So far, there has been no official information of public nature on the details of the case, but media comments abound about “damage to the reputation” of the TC, which has the high responsibility of supervising the finances of the State.
The Correo de Kianda digital publication considered that, after the resignation of the magistrate, a real ‘domino effect’ can be expected for the next few days, with the fall of other key pieces of the Angolan justice system.
Although there is a separation of powers in Angola, the highest leadership of the Government strongly pressured the president of the TC into resigning and “it seems that the same is being done with judge Joel Leonardo”, the Correo de Kianda noted.
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