Hon Col. Kundi Paihama

Minister of Defense

Place of Birth: Cunene

Career: Governor (successively) of Cunene, Benguela, Huila and Luanda provinces; Minister of State Inspection and Control, 1986; Minister of Territorial Administration; intelligence directorate, State Security Minister; Governor, Huila, 1992-?; member, Politbureau, 1996 to date; Minister of Defence, 2002 to date.

Commentary: Known as the MPLA's Jonas Savimbi, Paihama is a charismatic orator given to calling and addressing spontaneous mass meetings, he speaks several Angolan languages and is one of few senior MPLA figures who can communicate with the people. From Cunene Province on the Namibian border, he is popular in southern and central Angola which he knows well from his governorships. He loathed, and was loathed by, Savimbi, but Paihama is a controversial character in the MPLA due mainly to his anti-corruption diatribes. He is periodically sent to London to escape the political heat.