THISDAYonline

Every year, the government of President Jose Eduardo dos Santos takes in billions of dollars in revenue from Angola's rich offshore oil deposits. And every year, a large chunk of that money mysteriously disappears.

In 2001, for example, the International Monetary Fund estimates that Angola earned $3.2 billion in oil revenues; $1.2 billion of that was, in bank parlance, "unaccounted for."

A chorus of Angolans, Western diplomats, and international groups accuses a small but powerful elite, centered around the dos Santos presidency, of tapping the payments. The British advocacy group Global Witness calls the situation "wholesale state robbery."

"People are starting to put the question on the table - where is the money?" asked Fernando Pasceco of the Angola Association for Rural Development, the country's largest nongovernmental organization. "We need schools, we need salaries, we need to improve our lives."

Dos Santos repeatedly has denied siphoning off the oil money, saying it was spent on fighting the rebel group UNITA, the Portuguese name for the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola, during a civil war of nearly three decades. A cease-fire reached in April has been holding.

But if the estimates are correct, the theft is on a scale comparable to that in Zaire, now called the Democratic Republic of Congo, under Mobutu Sese Seko. After his ouster in 1997, Congolese government officials estimated Mobutu had secretly deposited $14 billion in Swiss bank accounts, foreign corporations, and luxury real estate during 30-year dictatorship. In Angola, the IMF estimates that at least $5 billion has gone missing during the past five years alone.

Critics of the government accuse Western oil companies of complicity in the alleged grand theft. Tax and royalty payments from US, French, British, and Norwegian companies, among others, account for up to 90 percent of government income. According to investigations by Global Witness, the American company Chevron is the single largest contributor, having paid $1.7 billion in 2000.

Yet none of the companies voluntarily disclose their payments. Critics say this makes it easier for the Angolan elite to steal money.

"We don't know how [the companies] got the oil concession, what commission they paid, or if they pay taxes," said the Rev. Antonio Jaca of Radio Ecclesia, a Catholic radio station that raises public awareness about the oil wealth through talk shows. "We really know nothing."

The oil giants respond by saying their payments are bound by confidentiality agreements with the Angolan government.

The lack of transparency has sparked a "Publish What They Pay" campaign led by American philanthropist and financier George Soros. Supporters of the effort are calling on Western oil and gas companies to publicize their payments to governments in the developing world. They are lobbying stockholders and market regulators in London and New York to pressure the oil giants into changing their ways.

In meetings here with dos Santos on Thursday, US Secretary of State Colin Powell urged him to root out government corruption. Western diplomats in the capital are privately distasteful of the workings of government, but few criticize it publicly.

The importance of Angola as an oil producer may account for some of the reticence to speak out. Production is steadily increasing; for the United States, Angola is soon estimated to account for 10 percent of the nation's oil import needs - about as much as Kuwait.

Two recent developments have put the focus on oil corruption. One is the end of the 27-year civil war. "The war was always used as an excuse not to spend on social services; not any more," said Ian Dolan, an aid worker with the Irish development agency Trocaire.

The other factor is the humanitarian crisis: Many donors are reluctant to commit aid through government channels, and a UN appeal for $233 million in assistance has been just 47 percent funded.

UN Security Council president Jeremy Greenstock of Britain said at a council meeting July 17 that the UN appeal is the equivalent of about three weeks' oil revenue for the government.

"There's obviously a question about whether we should pick up the tab for a government that clearly has the money," said one European diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The spotlight has turned to the close-knit cabal of political military, business, and political figures that analysts call Angola's "parallel government." Thought to number 200 families, the group - known as Futungo - is shrouded in mystery.

The local magazine Tropical, which sells on Luanda street corners, offers a glimpse into the lifestyle of current and aspiring members. The latest issue features glossy photo spreads of well-dressed Angolans enjoying themselves in London and Lisbon, as well as two-page spread of the 29th birthday celebrations of Isabel dos Santos, the president's daughter.

The glitz contrasts starkly with the lives of most of Angola's 13 million people. Here in the capital, fleets of luxury vehicles race along streets strewn with sewage.

In the countryside, 3 million people are teetering on the edge of survival, many lacking food, medicine, and shelter. The average life expectancy is 45, and unemployment is 80 percent.

The ruling party, the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola, denies the ruling class has stolen oil revenues but acknowledges the need for changes in how the money is spent.

In the past month, the government has pledged several hundred million dollars to infrastructure projects to rebuild the country. One senior minister and several regional governors have also been fired for allegedly siphoning off state funds.

But there is considerable skepticism that President dos Santos will account for the elusive oil money or confront the endemic corruption that critics say has seeped into every level of public life.

"We need morals in public life," said Marcial Dachala, spokesman for the demobilized UNITA troops. "It is scandalous that a country can produce everything it needs, yet people want so much. They say it's because of the war, but it's not only that."