Some experts in the fields of Law and Sociology point out that the National Police are responsible for safeguarding the legally established rights of widows and descendants of agents, suggesting special protection for those whose loved ones have lost their lives while carrying out their duties. In an interview with OPAÍS, jurist Modesto Silva and sociologist Nicolau Pinto Garcia reacted to the death of chief inspector Francisco Mango, during an operation in Benguela
In Angola, there is a legal diploma, in this case Presidential Decree no. 63/14, of 13 March, which regulates social protection in the event of death of insured persons under the Special Career Regime of the Ministry of the Interior, through the attribution of cash benefits, known as survivor’s pension, to which is also added the death benefit.
For jurist Modesto Silva, this diploma, in itself, is proof that the Angolan legislator was concerned regarding family members who lost their loved ones. The aforementioned legislation — maintains that expert — “regulars the rights of family members of police officers who, during their lifetime, provided services to the Ministry of the Interior. Thus, the purpose of the survivor’s pension is to compensate the insured’s family members for the loss of income from work caused by their death”, he highlights.
According to the aforementioned diploma, the right to the pension is the spouse or civil partner, descendants, “even if unborn, including those adopted, ascendants”, points out Modesto. From this perspective, as in order to access social benefits it appears necessary to comply with certain requirements, the jurist is of the opinion that institutions, including the court, therefore have increased responsibilities.
This judicial body is responsible for evaluating the deceased’s salary, appointing someone as head of the couple, who is responsible for providing the loved one’s documents that are needed for family members to qualify for the pension. The lawyer also believes that, from a formal point of view, the objective conditions have been created, but these have been hampered by the poor functioning of the Human Resources of the Ministry of the Interior which, in his view, has not provided the legal advice that family members need. .
“Because there are situations where widows have lost the benefits of this subsidy. They must be requested by interested parties or their legal representatives. Which means that many widows do not submit, within two years, counting from the date of death of the insured person or retiree”, he laments.
Creation of main area for monitoring
In turn, sociologist Nicolau Pinto Garcia remembers that, when the family loses the provider, the social situation becomes, indeed, complicated for the other members. So, in the particular case of the Police officer, without losing sight of the other cases that occurred, Nicolau Pinto Garcia suggested that there should in fact be monitoring by the Provincial Command, via related departments.
The sociologist is of the opinion that the PN should have a special area for monitoring police officers who lose their lives while carrying out their duties, especially in those cases in which the officer dies at the hands of criminals. “It is in this accompaniment that psychological support should be triggered directly for the family, in order to console and prevent future situations of this nature”, he says, for those who are not easy for the family to hear that the loved one who went to work died while exercising their duties. their functions. “Although this is a high-risk profession.
Every day a person leaves home, but doesn’t know if they will return. So, it’s regarding preventing families and working with them to console them,” he considers. The death of the officer from the Provincial Criminal Offenses Department has highlighted an old problem of insufficient bulletproof vests.
The data in this newspaper’s possession points to the fact that it is not a problem that only affects Benguela, it is something of a situational nature. Recently, agents appealed to the General Command, through the pages of the newspaper OPAÍS, to work towards reversing the situation, purchasing more vests for the individual protection of agents.
BY: Constantino Eduardo, in Benguela
