Angola’s ex-President Dos Santos to be buried in Luanda Sunday | CGTN Africa
Dos Santos, who ruled Angola with an iron fist for 38 years, died on July 8, 2022 at a hospital in Spain after suffering a cardiac arrest.
Julio PACHECO NTELA / AFP
Angola’s former president José Eduardo dos Santos is set to be buried Sunday at the Republic Square, Dr António Agostinho Neto Memorial, in the capital Luanda.
Dos Santos, who ruled Angola from 1979 to 2017, died on July 8 at the age of 79 at a clinic in Barcelona, where he was being treated following a long illness.
His body arrived in Luanda on August 20, six weeks after his demise.
The delay in repatriation of his remains was caused by a medical process which sought to determine the cause of his death.
Dos Santos’s daughter, Tchize, through her lawyers, requested a full autopsy on suspicions of foul play in the death.
Tchize also asked for him to be buried in the Spanish city of Barcelona.
A Spanish judge however ruled on August 17 that the death was from natural causes, and allowed the repatriation of dos Santos’s body back to his home country.
Dos Santos’ burial coincides with his birthday.
Some of the top leaders that have confirmed attendance of the burial ceremony include South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and his Zimbabwean counterpart Emmerson Mnangagwa.