Uíge - Families in Songo municipality, northern Uíge province, on Saturday highlighted the contribution of the Social Protection Strengthening Program (KWENDA) in mitigating basic needs and improving their quality of life.
While handing out the fourth and fifth installments of Kwenda to more than 1,500 disadvantaged families in the Kinvuenga commune, beneficiaries said the program is helping them to cover basic needs, as well as economic profitability through small businesses.
Each family benefited from 66,000 kwanzas, equivalent to two installments, and others received four installments for the first time, equivalent to 132,000 kwanzas.
A 52-year-old Dongala Mendes, who lives in Ngombe Village, said he used the money received in the previous installments to start a goat breeding business and now has around five rams.
He added that with this amount received now, he will increase the number of cattle and boost agricultural production.
‘I can already feel the benefits of Kwenda. In the first phase, I was able to buy rams and goats and now, with this amount I've received, I'll be able to raise my offspring, build my house and intensify my activity in the countryside,’ he said.
According to the provincial director of the Local Development Institute (FAS) in Uíge, Nanizaiawo Capitão, the Kinvuenga commune is one of the most difficult areas to access.
Despite the difficulty, he said the spirit of mission and patriotism has been decisive in reaching the registered families.
‘The spirit of mission and the feeling of mutual help end up being an extra motivation, given the difficulties we face,’ he said.
Nanizaiawo Capitão announced that in the next few months families from the municipalities of Cangola and Milunga will start to benefit from Kwenda, and work is currently underway to correct the registered data.
The Development Institute has registered around 12,75 families in Songo municipality under the Kwenda program that have already received the fourth and fifth installments.
Of the 12, 75 recipients, 11,519 benefited from the fourth and fifth installments, worth 66,000 kwanzas per family, while the other 152 households received four installments, worth 132,000 kwanzas.
The families registered in the Kinvuenga commune, especially the Nsundi, Nzadi and Makoko villages, face various difficulties in their daily lives, from the lack of hospitals, schools and, above all, the poor state of the roads, which make it impossible for people and goods to move around.
In Uíge, the Kwenda Program, which began in 2021, has already benefited 32,496 families in the Songo, Mucaba and Cangola municipalities, having disbursed more than 2.7 billion kwanzas.
Kwenda is an Angolan government program that aims to support families in situations of poverty or vulnerability in the country.
Valued at 420 million US dollars, the program is co-financed by the World Bank with 320 million dollars and the Angolan state. JAR/MRA/AMP
