Staff Reporter
THE disagreements that started while former Angolan president Jose Eduardo dos Santos was still alive are continuing after his death and are threatening to derail government plans for his burial in Angola.
Dos Santos died in a private hospital in Barcelona, Spain, on Friday.
Angolan President Joao Lourenco created, already on Friday, a commission to spearhead the arrangements of the funeral of the former head of state.
The commission is chaired by state minister for social affairs, Carolina Cerqueira, and includes six other ministers.
But the idea of a state funeral in Angola faces opposition from the Dos Santos family.
According to the Angolan media, one of Dos Santos’ daughters, Tchize, has taken the matter to court in Spain demanding that her father’s body not be handed to the Angolan authorities until a thorough postmortem examination is conducted.
She was also quoted by the Portuguese and American media saying that her father did not want to be buried in Angola, the country he ruled for 38 years.
A few days ago, cases of attempted murder and gross negligence were opened in Spain against Dos Santos’ wife and his Angolan physician.
The widow, Ana Paula dos Santos, deserted her husband immediately after he stepped down five years ago.
When Dos Santos, who has been in Spain since 2019, briefly returned to Angola last year, he allegedly refused to see his estranged wife.
However, she turned up in Barcelona recently to take care of her infirm husband.
