Jeremias Kalandula Chitunda (February 20, 1942 – November 2, 1992) served as the Vice President of

UNITA The National Union for the Total Independence of Angola ( pt, União Nacional para a Independência Total de Angola, abbr. UNITA) is the second-largest political party in Angola. Founded in 1966, UNITA fought alongside the Popular Movement for ...

until his assassination in

Luanda Luanda () is the Capital (political), capital and largest city in Angola. It is Angola's primary port, and its major Angola#Economy, industrial, Angola#Culture, cultural and Angola#Demographics, urban centre. Located on Angola's northern Atl ...

, as part of the Halloween Massacre shortly after the first round of the

presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The pre ...

, held on September 29–30.Chevron oil and the Savimbi problem
, April 29, 2002. Insight on the News. He was UNITA's second in command, after UNITA leader Jonas Savimbi.

Schooling

Chitunda, born in Chimbuelengue to Emilio Chitunda and Rosalina Kalombo, attended Chimbuelengue and Dondi Mission school in Bela Vista before proceeding to João de Castro College and the Huambo National Secondary School. He later received a scholarship to attend the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...

, where he obtained a degree in mining engineering.James, W. Martin. ''Historical Dictionary of Angola'', 2004. Page 33.

Political career

Chitunda moved from Angola to

Zaire Zaire (, ), officially the Republic of Zaire (french: République du Zaïre, link=no, ), was a Congolese state from 1971 to 1997 in Central Africa that was previously and is now again known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Zaire was, ...

, fearing arrest by the Portuguese colonial authorities. He joined

in 1966 and served as its representative to the U.S. southwest before being promoted to representative to the U.S. in 1976. He became the Vice President of UNITA in August 1986 at the sixth party congress.

Assassination

In 1992, after decades of war between UNITA and the governing MPLA, the first Presidential elections were scheduled.

José Eduardo dos Santos José Eduardo dos Santos (; 28 August 1942 – 8 July 2022) was the president of Angola from 1979 to 2017. As president, dos Santos was also the commander-in-chief of the Angolan Armed Forces (FAA) and president of the People's Movement for ...

officially received 49.57% of the vote and UNITA leader Jonas Savimbi won 40.6%. Because no candidate received 50% or more of the vote, election law dictated a second round of voting between the top two contenders. Savimbi, along with many other election observers, said the election had been neither free nor fair. But he sent Chitunda, then Vice President of UNITA, and Elias Salupeto Pena, a UNITA senior advisor, to Luanda to negotiate the terms of the second round.^ Rothchild, Donald S. Managing Ethnic Conflict in Africa: Pressures and Incentives for Cooperation, 1997. Page 134. The election process broke down on October 31 when government troops in Luanda attacked UNITA. Civilians, using guns they had received from police a few days earlier, conducted house-by-house raids with the Rapid Intervention Police, killing and detaining hundreds of UNITA supporters. The government took civilians in trucks to the Camama cemetery and Morro da Luz ravine, shot them, and buried them in

mass grave A mass grave is a grave containing multiple human corpses, which may or may not be identified prior to burial. The United Nations has defined a criminal mass grave as a burial site containing three or more victims of execution, although an exact ...

s. On November 2, 1992, assailants attacked Chitunda's convoy, pulling him and another UNITA official from their car and shooting both of them in their faces. State-run television displayed the bodies of Chitunda and Pena. To this date, their bodies have not been returned to their families for burial and their whereabouts have not been released by the Angolan government.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chitunda, Jeremias 1942 births 1990s murders in Angola 1992 crimes in Angola 1992 deaths 1992 murders in Africa 20th-century Angolan people Angolan politicians Angolan rebels Assassinated Angolan politicians Deaths by firearm in Angola Members of UNITA People from Uíge Province People murdered in Angola People of the Angolan Civil War UNITA politicians University of Arizona alumni Unsolved murders in Angola Angolan revolutionaries

Schooling

Political career

Assassination

See also

References