New Speaker of the Senate Amason Kingi has landed in Angola to represent President William Ruto at the inauguration of the country’s President-elect Joao Lourenco.

Kingi landed in the capital Luanda on Friday morning with a small delegation to attend the swearing in of Lourenco, who was re-elected as the Head of State in the August 24 election.

The Kenyan Senate Speaker was received at the main airport in Luanda by Angola’s was Foreign Affairs Minister Tete Antonio.

“Just arrived in Luanda, Angola, and was received by Foreign Affairs Minister Tete Antonio. Will be representing H.E. The President @WilliamsRuto at the inauguration of the President-Elect Joao Lourenco, who won the Angolan Presidential election held on August 24th, 2022,” shared Kingi on his social media pages.

Lourenco won a second term in office in August after being declared the victor of tight presidential race.

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In results announced by the National Electoral Commission, the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) garnered 51.17 per cent of the vote, while opposition National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) managed to get 43.95 per cent.

Joao Lourenco. PHOTO/COURTESY

The election was the closest in the history of Angola since it gained independence in 1975 and past polls were hotly contested and the voter tally took several weeks to conclude.

MPLA and UNITA have a deep history as battlefield rivals during the 27-year-long civil war which ended in 2002, with MPLA controlling the electoral process and state broadcaster.

However, the opposition and the civil society have normally raised fears over the security of the ballot box given MPLA’s massive influence over the electoral process and the media.