Jose Eduardo dos Santos wished to be buried in Spain and is said to have been terrified that his death would be politicised and that his…
Angola is conducting a state funeral for ex-president Jose Eduardo dos Santos in the capital Luanda after his demise in Spain in July.
Many American leaders and Portugal’s president are attending the state funeral.
His demise incited a political dispute after his daughter, Tchize dos Santos, was against conducting the funeral in Angola. Jose Eduardo dos Santos was a veteran of the independence war. He was a powerful man in Angolan political history, having governed the nation for 38 years.
Although his heritage has been stained by claims of great corruption and human rights violations when he was in authority. His funeral happens days after the national elections, with the ruling party, the MPLA, likely to come back to rule. But the rival, Unita, has denied the MPLA’s announcement of victory.
Because of the appearance of foreign leaders at the funeral on what would have been Jose Eduardo dos
Santos’ 80th birthday, officials have requested local citizens not to protest amid stress over the awaited
election result.
According to local media, “The national police requests that all civilians, civil society, and organised groups
that plan to organise activities on Saturday and Sunday do so out of respect for the previous head of the
state.”
Aftermaths of Mr. Dos Santos’s Death
Jose Eduardo dos Santos wished to be buried in Spain and is said to have been terrified that his death would be politicised and that his kids would not be able to visit Angola for his funeral or to see his grave.
A Spanish court finally ordered that he should be delivered to his window in Angola. Isabel and Tchize dos Santos currently live in exile in Europe after the latest president, Joao Lourenco, followed a strong anti-corruption campaign, which several members of the dos Santos family have been associated with.
Isabel dos Santos has been alleged to have mismanaged and misused public funds when she governed the state oil firm. Sanongol She has declined the allegations and says she is the victim of political activism.
In the meantime, Zenu dos Santos, a son of the previous president, has been jailed for five years for cheating. Jose Eduardo dos Santos died at the age of 79 after a cardiac arrest while experiencing medical care at a clinic in Barcelona, Spain.
He resigned in 2017, handing power to Joao Lourenco, who was then defence minister.
