President in Luanda for Dos Santos funeral

Levi Mukarati in Luanda, Angola

PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa today  joins other leaders in Luanda, Angola for a funeral service of the late former leader Jose Eduardo Dos Santos. The late president Dos Santos died at a private clinic in Barcelona, Spain early last month. He is set to be buried later today, when he would have turned 80. President Mnangagwa arrived at the Fourth of February International Airport in Luanda yesterday evening accompanied by Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister Ambassador Fredrick Shava and other senior government officials.

He was met at the airport by Angolan Minister of External Relations Tete Antonio as well as Zimbabwe’s ambassador to Luanda Thando Madzamuse. Former president Dos Santos took leadership of Angola in 1979 following the death of Agostinho Neto.

The late president Neto was Angola’s first president after independence from Portugal in 1975 having led the People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) to victory. Following his death, the late president Dos Santos, who joined MPLA and anti-colonial movement while in school, took over and inherited a civil war that was backed by the West, in an attempt to remove the elected government.

The late leader managed to bring an end to the decades-long conflict in 2002. As MPLA and Angola president, former president Dos Santos became a towering figure in one of the top oil producers in Africa after emerging victorious from the Western sponsored destabilisation bid.

He was also instrumental in establishing a multi-party system in Angola, attracting significant foreign investments. The late leader presided over liberalisation of Angola’s economy and development of the country’s oil sector, which is one of the leading in Africa.

Former president Dos Santos is recognised internationally for an anti-colonialism stance and promotion of peace negotiations to end conflicts in the region. The late leader retired from presidency in 2017. He was succeeded by an MPLA party-mate and former defence Minister Joao Lourenco. Burial for former president Dos Santos will take place in the capital city, Luanda.