Luanda, July 27, 2026 (Lusa) - From businessman to beggar: this is António Bumba's current situation, following the riots on 31 July 2025 in Luanda that affected his guesthouse, which is still undergoing reconstruction today.
A year after the unrest, which resulted in deaths, arrests, injuries and destruction, Lusa returned to Calemba 2, a peripheral area with a thriving informal economy and one of the areas hardest hit by the violence, where residents, shopkeepers and workers recall with pain and sadness the «war-like scene» they witnessed.
A strike called by taxi drivers to protest against rising fuel prices sparked three days of rioting, looting and acts of vandalism, leaving at least 30 dead and hundreds of premises ransacked.
Among these is the business owned by António Bumba, who expressed gratitude for any future support that could help lift him out of poverty and appealed to the Angolan president to intervene.
The 66-year-old businessman devoted half his life to building his business, comprising bars, a guesthouse, a restaurant, a function room and a small shop, which, 12 months on, remains in ruins.
With restoration of the premises still pending, the fury of protesters on 28 July 2025 had completely destroyed them. He expressed hope that the authorities would soon respond to the letters he had sent a year earlier.
«As you can see, the building has been [vandalised] from day one until today. Things remain the same. We were pleased with the announcement of the government's support for business owners, made by the president, but unfortunately, from that moment on, some people, like me, were already left by the wayside,» he told Lusa.
At his establishment, «Henda Ya Mama Comercial», on Rua Direita do Camama in the municipality of Talatona, built over 30 years of «sacrifice», the extent of the destruction remains visible, with windows, doors, cupboards, the ceiling and electrical systems awaiting full restoration.
António Bumba, visibly exasperated, «with his hands tied» and with no means to rebuild the premises he had built to say goodbye to his retirement, told Lusa that he had submitted all the necessary documentation to the local authorities, the Attorney General's Office and banking institutions, but had received no response.
«We completed the paperwork in record time, as planned, within a 30-day period, and since then [a year later] we have had no response [regarding government funding],» he lamented.
His request for a meeting with the governor of Luanda province – to raise his concerns following the ordeal he had endured – was also met with nothing but silence.
«As you can see, we feel that we have been left to our own devices (…) we have no one to even discuss this issue with,» he acknowledged.
Bumba recalled that the looting of his establishment left 12 employees without work, a situation that persists to this day, emphasising that the situation has also led to health challenges such as high blood pressure.
The tragedy a year ago reduced the Angolan entrepreneur to a state of destitution: «I went from being a businessperson to relying on others for basic needs. It was a project I'd been working on for 30 years, and in the year it was destroyed, I was completing the project, and it was already up and running at full capacity,» he lamented.
He also appealed to «people of good faith», particularly the Angolan President, João Lourenço, to fulfil the promises made regarding support for business owners affected by the episodes of vandalism, because, he insisted, «so far, we are still in the same situation».
In this area of Calemba 2, the scene of intense protests and looting, Lusa visited one of the supermarkets belonging to the Arreiou chain, which was also targeted for destruction. The store has been refurbished and is now fully operational.
Local residents, such as Maria Paulo, 27, who also runs a grocery shop next door, told Lusa that thieves also targeted her shop.
«They took items from our shop; here at Arreiou, they also took many items, and it was a challenging day (…), we closed the doors and left because some people were approaching us with machetes,» she reported.
José Laurindo Cazengue and Gomes Bumba, motorbike taxi drivers in Calemba 2, also saw the supermarket in question and other nearby shops being destroyed, on a day of ‘war' that shook many people and destroyed hundreds of jobs.
«I arrived at my taxi rank to start my shift and the chaos began straight away; we had to make a run for it – it was like a war zone here,» recalled Laurindo, standing beside his «kupapata», as tuk-tuks are known in Angola.
Gomes Bumba also expressed concern about the lost jobs and highlighted the need for improved security in the neighbourhood: «Honestly, we can't work properly here; there's too much disruption. Criminals turn up at the taxi ranks and demand illegal payments.» In that area, the pharmacy run by António, 57, remained intact because, on the day of the riots, staff and family members reached safety after cutting their working day short.
«We couldn't work at the pharmacy because there were so many problems – riots, assaults (…), it was a terrible day when people scattered and a lot was lost,» he said.
In August 2025, the Angolan government announced a 50 billion kwanza (€47.6 million) funding scheme to support businesses vandalised in the wake of the riots on 28, 29 and 30 July of that year.
The unrest, condemned by the president, resulted in 30 deaths, 277 injuries, 1,515 arrests and the destruction of 118 commercial premises, with the worst-hit areas being the provinces of Luanda, Benguela, Huíla, Huambo, Malanje, Bengo and Lunda Norte.
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