ODM SG Edwin Sifuna among African leaders denied entry into Angola

The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party Secretary General Edwin Sifuna is among a host of African leaders of opposition parties who were on Thursday denied entry into Angola.

According to Sifuna, they had been invited to the Central African nation by Adalberto Costa, the President of opposition party the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), for a two-day event.

The Nairobi Senator and other leaders, who included Tanzania’s opposition politician Tundu Lissu, were however denied entry into the country by the ruling government, hence were left stranded at the Luanda Airport.

Other prominent African leaders in the delegation included Zanzibar's First Vice President Othman Masoud, and former Mozambican presidential candidate Venancio Mondlane.

The leaders hence took to their social media platforms to express their frustrations over the treatment, with Sifuna saying: “UNITA President Adalberto Costa invited us to Angola. The Government has denied us entry!”

Lissu, on his part, stated: “This shabby treatment of the nationals of brotherly African nations by the Angolan immigration authorities is totally unacceptable and should be condemned in the strongest possible terms.”

It however still remains unclear why the leaders were denied entry into the country.