(Bloomberg) -- Angola's outgoing President, Jose Eduardo dos Santos, promoted 165 senior police officers to a higher rank, a move that's likely to allow him to wield influence even after he steps down this month.
Interior Minister Angelo Veiga Tavares was appointed as commissioner of prison services, while at least 20 commissioners were named as advisers to police commander Ambrosio de Lemos, according to a presidential decree published in the government gazette on Sept. 1. The appointments take effect within 15 days of the publication of the decree.
The ranks, which include commissioner-chief, commissioner and under-commissioner, are the highest in the police corps. It's the first time during his 38-year rule that Dos Santos has awarded mass promotions to more than 100 senior police officers with a single stroke. In July, lawmakers approved a proposal to extend the terms of office for the chiefs of the military, police and intelligence services to eight from six years.
The ruling Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola won elections last month with 61 percent of the votes, according to provisional results from the electoral commission. The final results are scheduled to be announced Wednesday.
To contact the reporter on this story: Candido Mendes in Luanda at cmendes6@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Karl Maier at kmaier2@bloomberg.net, Pauline Bax, Ana Monteiro
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