Bornito de Sousa Baltazar Diogo (born 23 July 1953) is an Angolan politician who was the

vice president of Angola The vice president of Angola is the second highest political position in Angola; it is the deputy to the head of state, and is appointed by the president. The position was established by the constitution of 2010. Vice presidents of Angola (2010� ...

, from 2017 to 2022. He was the vice presidential candidate for the

MPLA The People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola ( pt, Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola, abbr. MPLA), for some years called the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola – Labour Party (), is an Angolan left-wing, social d ...

in the 2017 Angolan general election, running alongside

João Lourenço João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço (born 5 March 1954) is an Angolan politician, who has served as the president of Angola since 26 September 2017. Previously, he was Minister of Defence from 2014 to 2017. In September 2018, he became the Cha ...

and a member of the Constituent Assembly since 2010. He was officially sworn in as vice president on 26 September 2017.

Early life and education

De Sousa was born in Quéssua municipality. His father, Job Baltazar Diogo, was a primary school teacher, Quimbundo-Portuguese translator and once imprisoned by the Portuguese security agency,

PIDE The International and State Defense Police ( pt, Polícia Internacional e de Defesa do Estado; PIDE) was a Portuguese security agency that existed during the '' Estado Novo'' regime of António de Oliveira Salazar. Formally, the main roles of the ...

-DGS. His mother, Catarina Manuel Simão Bento "Katika", was a housewife. He studied at the "Amor e Alegria" Primary School, at Quéssua Methodist Mission in Malanje and the United Methodist Church School in

Luanda Luanda () is the capital and largest city in Angola. It is Angola's primary port, and its major industrial, cultural and urban centre. Located on Angola's northern Atlantic coast, Luanda is Angola's administrative centre, its chief seaport ...

. He also attended the Liceu Nacional Salvador Correia de Sá e Benevides in Luanda. He obtained a degree in law from

Agostinho Neto University The Agostinho Neto University ( pt, Universidade Agostinho Neto) is the largest public university of Angola, based in Luanda and in the nearby city of Talatona, in Angola. In the academic year 2005–06, 68 licensing courses were ministered b ...

and a science degree from Escola Superior do Partido.

Political career

He started as a MPLA militant in Luanda (Marçal district) at the age of 16, in 1969, influenced by the events happening in neighbouring Congo, the arrest of his father, Job Baltazar Diogo, and his maternal uncle, Dr. Luís Micolo. He was imprisoned at St Paul prison in Luanda and São Nicolau (present-day Cape Verde) by the PIDE from January 1971 to May 1974. He was released in May 1974 after the 25 April Revolution, together with his brother, General Baltazar Diogo Cristóvão. He started his career by serving as the first National Secretary of the JMPLA. In 1976, he became the political commissar of the Angolan Armed Forces. He was the president of the Constitutional Commission of the National Assembly, that was responsible for drafting the 2010 Angolan constitution. He was also the president of the MPLA Parliamentary Group until February 2010, when he was named Minister of Territorial Administration on 2 February 2010, and was reappointed to the office on 1 October 2012, after the 2012 elections.

Personal life

He was married to Maria José Rodrigues Ferreira Diogo. and has 4 daughters: Nhenze Mpasi Diogo Mendes, Njolela Chili Diogo, Djamila do Carmo Diogo and Naulila Katika Diogo Graça.

References

, - Living people 1953 births Vice presidents of Angola Territory Administration ministers of Angola MPLA politicians {{Angola-politician-stub