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Adalberto Costa Júnior

Adalberto Costa Júnior
Adalberto Costa
President of UNITA
Incumbent
Assumed office
15 November 2019
Preceded byIsaías Samakuva
Personal details
Born (1962-05-08) 8 May 1962 (age 63)
Kunje, Portuguese Angola
Political partyUNITA

Adalberto Costa Júnior (born 8 May 1962) is an Angolan politician who is the current president of UNITA and a member of the National Assembly of Angola.[1]

He previously worked abroad as UNITA's representative, before returning to Angola in 2003 and becoming spokesperson of the party. In 2009 he became a national secretary party and later vice-president of UNITA's parliamentary group, then president of the group.

Early life

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Costa was born on 8 May 1962 in Kunje, which was part of Portuguese Angola at the time of his birth.[2] His father, Adalberto Costa, was a UNITA militant, and he had eight other siblings. He was also the godson of UNITA founder and leader Jonas Savimbi.[3] At the age of ten he started going to the Minor Seminary of Quipeio (Huambo Province) for his primary education.[4] After completing his studies there he did his secondary studies at the Venâncio Deslandes Industrial and Commercial School.[4]

He trained in electrotechnical engineering at the Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto and in public ethics at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome.[5] However, during the proclamation of Angola's independence and subsequent civil war in 1975 he lost contact with his family.[4]

Political career

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From 1991 to 1996 he was UNITA's representative in Portugal, and was then representative of UNITA in Italy and to the Vatican City from 1996 to 2002.[4] From 2003 to 2008 he returned back to Angola and became spokesperson for the party.[4] He was also Provincial Secretary of UNITA in Luanda during this time.[6] Afterward, from 2009 to 2011, he was National Secretary for Patriomonial Affairs of UNITA and then from 2012 to 2015 was vice-president of the UNITA Parliamentary Group.[6] He assumed the role of president of the UNITA deputies from 2015 to 2019.[6]

In November 2019, Júnior was elected as president of UNITA, ending Isaias Samakuva's 16-year term.[4]

References

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  1. ^ Adalberto Costa Júnior. Archived 6 December 2021 at the Wayback Machine Assembleia Nacional de Angola. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
  2. ^ "Adalberto Costa Júnior eleito novo presidente da UNITA". Voice of America (in Portuguese). 15 November 2019. Retrieved 18 June 2025.
  3. ^ "Angola 24 Horas - Adalberto Costa Júnior espera que luta contra a corrupção não seja uma "gincana de escolhas"". Angola24horas.com. Archived from the original on 25 November 2018. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
  4. ^ a b c d e f "Adalberto Costa Júnior: "Preparado para governar com todos" – DW – 12/08/2022". DW (in Portuguese). 12 August 2022. Retrieved 18 June 2025.
  5. ^ "Angola Fala Só: Bilhete Identidade Adalberto Costa Junior". Voaportugues.com. October 2015. Archived from the original on 9 July 2019. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
  6. ^ a b c "Adalberto Costa Júnior, o desafiador de verbo fácil". 24 Notícias (in Portuguese). 24 August 2022. Retrieved 18 June 2025.
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