Angola holds funeral for ex-leader Dos Santos, despite dispute over election

Angola held a funeral on Sunday for long-serving ex-leader Jose Eduardo dos Santos, who died in Spain in July but whose burial was delayed by a family request for an autopsy.

The former leader died in a clinic in Barcelona on July 8 at the age of 79.

Heads of state and senior ministers from around the continent, as well as the president of Angola’s former colonial ruler Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, attended.

His funeral came days after his MPLA party returned to power in a disputed presidential poll by the opposition.

The former president’s eldest daughter, Tchizé dos Santos, added her voice to accusations by opponents of the government that the timing of the funeral was a deliberate distraction.

Dos Santos and his family dominated Angolan politics for the 38 years that he ruled until 2017.

The late president’s rule was marked by a 27-year on-off civil war against the U.S.-backed rebels from the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), who he defeated in 2002.

The country also enjoyed an oil-fuelled boom, but more than half the population of more than 30 million live in poverty.