* Angolan President marks 30 years in power. * Becomes Africa's second longest serving president. * Has repeatedly delayed presidential elections. By Henrique Almeida LUANDA, Sept 22 (Reuters) - There were no military bands to mark Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos' three decades in power this week. Just another day in the life of Africa's second longest serving -- and perhaps most enigmatic -- leader. The 67-year-old ruler, who never won an election, is set to default once again on a promise to hold a presidential vote this year. His party signalled this month that the election could take place only in 2012. This came as a relief to investors in the oil and diamond producing nation, who credit dos Santos with presiding over peace, stability and double-digit economic growth ever since Angola's brutal 27-year civil war ended in 2002. Angola rivals Nigeria as Africa's biggest oil producer and is the world's fifth biggest diamond exporter. But two-thirds of Angolans live in poverty, and while they have long endured their woes in silence, patience now seems to be running out. "Things need to change for us very soon," said Miguel Antonio, 31, who lives on the side of a dirt road in the crime-ridden neighbourhood of Sambizanga, a suburb of Luanda where President dos Santos was born. "During my whole life I have only had one president. I have seen him and his friends prosper from Angola's oil while the majority of people continue to live in poverty." THE KID, THE BOSS Dos Santos, branded as the "kid" when he came to power at the age of 37, is now the continent's second-longest serving leader after Libya's Muammar Gaddafi. Angolans now refer to the president simply as "the boss". A former minister under Angola's first president Agostinho Neto, dos Santos was appointed president by the ruling party in 1979. He is also commander-in-chief of the armed forces and is responsible for appointing judges. He narrowly won the first round of Angola's last -- and only -- presidential vote in 1992 but the controversial poll re-ignited the civil war that lasted until 2002. Today, his family and friends hold a huge sway over Angola's economy by holding stakes in banks, oil firms, and private media groups. The country's only daily newspaper, Jornal de Angola, is also controlled by the government. But unlike his Libyan counterpart, who marked 40 years in power with fireworks, aerobatic jets, paragliders and dancers this month, dos Santos spent Monday inside his presidential palace that overlooks the Atlantic Ocean. "The president wants this date to go by without much notice because being 30 years in power in Africa is nothing to be proud of," said Fernando Macedo, a law professor at Lusiada University in Luanda. "What we need is more democracy." NO ALTERNATIVE Despite widespread poverty, the ruling MPLA party won almost 82 percent of the vote in the country's first post-war parliamentary election last year against a divided and under funded opposition. The MPLA is credited with rebuilding the country since the end of the civil war and attracting billions of dollars in foreign investment to Angola's oil, diamonds and construction sectors. However, half of Angola's 16.5 million population still have no access to sanitation and life expectancy at birth -- 38.2 years -- is the world's worst after Swaziland, according to the CIA's World Factbook ranking of 224 nations. Dos Santos has promised to improve the lives of ordinary Angolans by spending $50 billion to build 1 million new homes for the poor. But a drop in oil prices has already forced his government to delay $2 billion in payments to building firms. Despite the president's silence and broken promises, a lack of an alternative political leader is likely to keep him in power for many years to come. "There is nobody within the party that is seen as a successor to the current president and the opposition parties remain weak and divided," said Eugenia Neto, the wife of Angola's first president. "That means people will probably vote for him when and if he decides to hold elections." (Reporting by Henrique Almeida; Editing by Giles Elgood)
