Angola began, on Saturday, a weekend in honor of former President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, who ruled unchallenged for 38 years and left a controversial legacy, days after elections whose preliminary results were contested by the opposition.
The former head of state (1979-2017), who was never directly elected, died last month at the age of 79 in a clinic in Barcelona. He is accused of embezzling billions for the benefit of his family and loved ones.
Ahead of a state funeral on Sunday, his coffin, draped in the Angolan flag, was shown to the public in the morning at the Republic Square in Luanda. Dozens of heads of state and government are expected to attend the official ceremony.
AFP journalists noted that as the funeral procession led by motorcyclists and police jockeys passed, some were crying and others singing. But the vast majority of them are doing their business.
In the plaza open to the ocean, black flags sprawl as loudspeakers play religious music.
Messages on posters for the glory of those sometimes called “Zedu” here: “Farewell, beloved chief”, “Forever our leader”, or even “Zedu a man of the people”.
The coffin was placed under a tent, with a picture and a bunch of white flowers. Activists from the ruling party, the People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) go through the body.
“We are here to salute our president, the president of peace and national reconciliation,” said Solange Quinyani, a Luanda resident in party uniform.
There are a few family members of the former president, but none of his sons were present. Some of them were against returning the body to Angola, but the Spanish judiciary ruled.
Eldest daughter Isabel, who is being pursued by judges over a series of corruption investigations, wrote on social media last week that she would not attend.
Members of the government are present but quickly leave the scene.
The honor comes just days after Angolans voted to choose their deputies, in a ballot that will decide the next president. In the former Portuguese colony, independent since 1975, the head of the list of the winning party in the legislative elections assumes the duties of head of state.
– poll closes –
The Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) has been in power for 47 years, according to preliminary results of the electoral commission. The outgoing president, Joao Lourenço, 68, is approaching a second term.
But with 51.07% of the vote out of almost all votes (97.03%), the former Singles Party scored its worst, if these numbers are confirmed.
The opposition, which has so far received 44.05% of the vote, opposes these results. Their leader, Adalberto Costa Jr., on Friday requested the formation of a commission to verify.
Foreign observers have expressed particular “concern” about the electoral rolls.
The final results of the poll were not announced. These are the toughest elections in the country’s history.
On promises of reform and the eradication of poverty and corruption, the opposition has made progress. Rampant inflation, severe drought, and unemployment fuel the desire for change.
Mr Costa Jr., 60, seduces young people, a growing part of the electorate who reject the legacy of dos Santos, a symbol of corruption and nepotism.
The latter has made resource-rich Angola one of the largest oil producers on the continent along with Nigeria. But the former head of state, born in the slums of Luanda, used this windfall wealth to enrich himself while his country remained one of the world’s poorest.
His appointed successor, João Lourenço, freed himself from the system by leading an anti-corruption campaign and reforms, welcomed abroad, to wean the economy out of its dependence on oil.
But many believe that this campaign was aimed at settling scores with the dos Santos clan. According to the World Bank, more than half of the 33 million Angolans live below the poverty line.
