Angola’s ex-President Joao Eduardo’s daughter Isabel Dos Santos has declared interest in running for election to the country’s top office, amid woes of frozen assets and grave allegations of misappropriating more than one billion dollars of public money. Isabel, who’s arguably Africa’s richest woman, revealed her ambitions during an interview with Portuguese TV channel RTP on Thursday.
This is the very first hint that Isabel, daughter to the man who stayed at the helm of Angola’s power for 38 years, has given into joining politics. The wealthy “Princess”, estimated to be worth more than 2 billion US dollars, has been on the receiving end of the no-nonsense regime of current President Joao Lourenco, who fired her and her brother from plump government jobs upon accession to power in 2017.
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The regime further went ahead to freeze Santos’ family’s assets, accusing her of diverting public funds to various companies that she has interests in. She has however dismissed the allegations terming them as “witch hunt” and a scheme to frustrate her presidential ambitions.
Dos Santos is a key economic force in major Portuguese establishments like Eurobic Bank, NOS telecommunications company and Galp Energia.
