Wake for former Angola president

LUANDA, Angola

Family members and dozens of others gathered on Saturday night for the wake of José Eduardo dos Santos, this time in the presence of his body, in a ceremony marked by the presence of the Angolan regime and the absence of the mediatic daughters of the former president.

The wake is being held at the official residence of the former head of state, an enormous mansion located in Miramar, a noble neighbourhood of the city of Luanda, in a space decorated for the purpose, where canon Apolónio Graciano celebrated a funeral ceremony, during which he asked for “eternal rest” for José Eduardo dos Santos, whose body was disputed in court by two wings of the family.

Even before the arrival of the coffin, some onlookers gathered near the famous residence in the hope of bidding farewell to the man who ruled Angola for 38 years.

Inside, dressed in black, several members of the government and the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola party (MPLA) came to pay their last respects to José Eduardo dos Santos, president emeritus of the party, and to express their condolences to his widow, Ana Paula dos Santos, and her three children, as well as a small family group.

Outside, people were shouting “Dos Santos, amigo” (Dos Santos, friend) as they lined up to enter the mansion which had always been closed to them and pay tribute to the former head of state.

Tiago Cristóvão, an association leader, was one of them.

"We knew that we had to come here and accompany the comrade president. We came here from the airport,” he told Lusa, invoking the “solidarity with the family” for the decision to attend the wake.

But not all the family received solidarity today.

The five oldest children of José Eduardo dos Santos – including daughters Isabel and Tchizé dos Santos – said they were unaware that their father’s body had been delivered to his widow and are considering complaining to the European Court of Human Rights.

They expressed their sorrow through social media for not being able to say goodbye to their father in the Angolan capital, where they have not gone practically since the successor of José Eduardo dos Santos, João Lourenço, took power in 2017 and who, as part of the fight against corruption that he raised as a banner of his mandate, undertook a fight that part of the dos Santos family and some of his closest collaborators.

Isabel dos Santos is facing the Angolan justice system, and Tchizé dos Santos, who followed her father in his political career and was an MPLA member of parliament, said she fears for her life if she returned to Angola. 

His daughters fought in the Spanish courts against the body being handed over to Ana Paula dos Santos.

But Filomeno dos Santos, the son who lives in Luanda, where he is awaiting an appeal against a court decision that sentenced him to five years in prison, did not attend the wake organised by the Angolan government, which wants to hold a state funeral in the next few days and supported the widow’s claims against the wishes of the older children.

Tiago Cristóvão expressed the wish that the government and family find a way to appease the situation: “We ask the comrade president João Lourenço to appeal again for the children to be here and come to accompany their father to his last resting place,” he told Lusa.

Waiting in line to be able to “pay homage to comrade José Eduardo dos Santos, president of all Angolans,” Kimuanga Bombo said he was “heartbroken” and stressed that the arrival of the body was “something very remarkable.”

"Today is the day we all hoped for. It is the day we all wanted,” he proclaimed.

Asked about the absence of the older children, he understood that “it is understandable”.

"Are there conditions [for them] to come here without being arrested? “There are conditions, yes sir, comrade João Lourenço is a father and humanist and knows the pain that the children are feeling. There will be nothing {done to] the people who want to come”, he believed.

The arrival of the mortal remains in Luanda coincided with the last act of the MPLA’s campaign in Luanda, which ended on a triumphant note, in the same place João Lourenço began his run for the vote almost a month ago.

However, although the arrival of the body in Luanda was known before Lourenço – who is running for a new term in the elections on 24 June – made a speech, he made no mention of his predecessor.