Many times announced, this stealthy return of Angola's former strongman, José Eduardo dos Santos who ruled the country for 38 years, is therefore effective. The ex-president is also protected by the Constitution. His status as former head of state indeed blocks any criminal prosecution until 2022.

While his son, José Filomeno, was sentenced to five years in prison for embezzlement of public funds, his daughter Isabel is suspected in numerous corruption cases, is the ex-president coming to negotiate? This return was undoubtedly validated by the current head of state and former defense minister under dos Santos, João Lourenço. It is indeed he who, after being elected president and taking the helm of the MPLA, the party in power, triggered the prosecutions against the family clan.

For political scientist Olívio Kilumbo, despite his two-year exile, officially for medical reasons, José Eduardo dos Santos has retained real influence power: "He is a true patrimony of Angolans, because he is the only former president still alive. He therefore has an important voice, because he can succeed either in playing a role of positive influence, or in exacerbating tensions," he analyzes.

No information has been given on the duration of the ex-head of state's return to the country. A trip that in any case coincides with two important upcoming deadlines: the MPLA congress at the end of the year, and parliamentary elections in August 2022, which will lead to the designation of the next head of state.