Immigration officials told MCK in Luanda´s International Airport that they had ‘superior orders’ to prevent him from leaving the country.
MCK has been an outstanding civic activist. In the last months, he has dedicated his shows to the liberation of the 15 political prisoners currently on trial. MCK has also been working to raise funds for their families, wrote the oppositional website Maka Angola.
One of the political prisoners, the rapper Luaty Beirão, has been featured in all of MCK’s albums. They performed the duet ‘The bullet pains’ in the most recent album ‘Proibido Ouvir Isso’ [‘Forbidden to Hear This’]:
“They always promise us food
But only give us a beating
But they too spit bullets which is painful
The bullet is painful, the bullet is painful…
Words fitted with hidden explosives
Hope has been wounded”
Luaty Beirão and MCK
Being long-time critics of the authorities in power, MCK and Luaty Beirão, express in their lyrics such sentiments as “It was not Libya [Arab Spring of 2011] that inspired me / I am a product of your government / Revolted I am.”
“All those who think differently are being subjected to political persecution,” MCK was quoted as saying.
Se Maka Angola: Rapper MCK Forbidden to Leave Angola
Læs mere om Luaty Beirãos skæbne
Angola – stenrigt og dog så fattigt
Angola var kronjuvelen i Portugals koloniimperium, forlenet med allehånde mineralrigdomme og er i dag Afrikas tredje største olieproducent.
Landet gennemløber en forrygende økonomisk vækst, men olieindtægterne er uens fordelt. Mens en lille politisk og økonomisk elite er blevet stenrige, lever 2/3 af indbyggerne på fattigdomsgrænsen.
Eduardo dos Santos har været ved magten siden 1979 og er i dag Afrikas længst siddende præsident. Hans styre beskyldes for at være et af verdens mest korrupte og han selv og hans familie menes god for hundreder af millioner dollars.
Den 73-årige politiker har fået ændret forfatningen, så han reelt kan vælges igen og igen, så længe hans MPLA-parti har flertal i parlamentet og oppositionen enten købes til tavshed eller samarbejde.
For (olie)penge er der nok af.
