Body of ex-Angola president Dos Santos arrives in Luanda

A plane with the remains of Angola's former president José Eduardo dos Santos, who died in Barcelona, Spain on July 8, arrived Saturday in Luanda at 19:16 local time after a month-long legal battle.

The body was later taken to the former leader’s residence in Miramar where his widow, three children and close relatives received condolences from people who visited their home.

As the procession passed by from the Quatro de Fevereiro International Airport to Miramar, people lined the roads to show their respect to the man who led Angola for 38 years.

Mr Marcy Lopes, who is in the commission organising Mr Dos Santos’ funeral ceremony, said that the burial date and programme would be announced in due course.

Funeral

But earlier, the ruling People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) spokesperson said that the funeral would be held in Luanda on August 28, the date that Dos Santos would have turned 80.

However, some media in Angola speculated that the government led by President João Lourenço intends to hold the funeral on Monday, two days before the southern Africa country holds its general elections.

"We are going to perform acts of state that are imposed for the figure he was, we are going to respect him as we always did,” MPLA spokesman Rui Falcão said.

At the same time, two factions of the former president’s family are locked in a dispute at the Family Court of the Civil Tribunal of Catalonia over who should take custody of Dos Santos' body.

Fight over body

On one side, Tchizé dos Santos and her older siblings, who were opposed to handing over the remains to the former first lady, and are against holding a state funeral before the August 24 elections to prevent some people taking political advantage.

On the other side is the widow Ana Paula dos Santos and her sons who also claimed the body and wanted it to be buried in Angola in the near future. On Wednesday, the Spanish court awarded custody of the body to the widow.

After that, Tchizé dos Santos, one of Dos Santos’ daughters, along with her brothers, appealed the court’s decision.

Isabel dos Santos, the former president’s first daughter, posted Saturday a picture of her father taking her to the altar during her wedding ceremony and wrote, “My Father, you took me to the altar and I will not be able to take you to your final resting place.

“You always dreamed everything good for me and I for you. The hatred of men spoke stronger today. They tore you from my arms. I am sorry. I love you. I cry for you. ”

Facing charges in Angola

It was not clear whether Ms Isabel dos Santos along with her sister Tchizé, who have been abroad since 2017 and are facing charges in Angola, will attend their father’s funeral in Luanda.

"If they don't owe anything to the state, why not?” asked Mr Falcão who was responding to the question on whether the sister would travel to Luanda for their father’s funeral.

Last month, President Lourenço indicated that they would attend the funeral without facing any persecution, but Tchizé dos Santos indicated that they feared their life and integrity in Luanda and that their father would only be buried after his successor exits office.