Jose Eduardo dos Santos (ex-President of Angola), 79, died on Friday after being in an induced coma at the Teknon Hospital in Barcelona for a week. This was announced by the Government in his country. A statement on the Executive’s official Facebook page reads, “We inform with great sorrow and consternation about the death.”
Dos Santos’ hospitalization had, along with the political repercussions acquired, overtones that resembled a Hamletian tragedy or black chronicle. Tchize’s daughter Welwitschia (also known as Tchize) had previously denounced a plot against the president’s death. She requested that her father’s body be not delivered until an autopsy is performed for “fear that he could be transferred to Angola”.
According to the family, the second woman and Dos Santos’ personal doctor are the perpetrators of an alleged poisoning which would have killed the former president. They are accused of attempted murder, omission of duty of assistance and serious negligence. The relatives also filed a complaint seeking to reveal secrets. This implies that they distrust the entourage surrounding the former leader and the political background.
Jose Eduardo dos Santos is in no way the first African dictator to die in Barcelona. The Gabonese Omar Bongo, a Gabonese, died in 2009 at the Quiron Clinic. However, he was cautious and had already selected the replacement within his home. Ali, his son, continues to lead the home without any unpleasant surprises.
The suspicion that the father of Angola is being conspired against reveals the decline of the clan which ruled the former Portuguese colony almost forty years ago. Jose Eduardo dos Santos was a petrochemical engineer and was a qualified member of the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola, (MPLA), which is a militia that was affiliated with the USSR. It achieved independence in 1991. Antonio Agostinho Neto was its first president. He died four years after taking power. Dos Santos succeeded him and remained at the Executive’s head for 38 years.
Angola’s political development is a good example of what has happened to other African republics after a war in which a guerrilla group won. After the defeat of the pro-Western Unita militia, the establishment of an apparent socialist regime led eventually to formal democracy being established in 2002. His critics claim that the state has turned into a kleptocracy in the private property of President dos Santos, and his family. Her daughter Isabel is the wealthiest in this regard. She is, according to various sources, valued at between 3,000 million and 20,000,000,000 dollars.
Nepotism was the method by which the victim concocted the looting of the State’s natural resources and the State. The granting finger contracts and non-reimbursed credit credits to her children was a boon. Her eldest daughter especially benefited from this. According to ‘Luanda Leaks, a leak of her business records, she and her husband created 200 companies in 40 different countries, with a special focus on transport or telecommunications.
Jose Eduardo dos Santos’ death was attributed to poisoning. This is a result of the unfortunate events that occurred after the patriarch retired in 2017. Jose Lourenco, his dolphin, reneged on the mentor’s trust and started a strategy to end their privileges. Isabel dos Santos, who was the president of Sonangol (the state oil company), was fired and Jose Filomeno was also imprisoned. Jose Filomeno was accused of diverting 500 millions from the sovereign fund she managed.
Lourenco’s policy, which was destined to end the old MPLA hierarchy, motivated the march of the father to Barcelona. Next month will see elections in Africa’s second largest oil exporter. There are concerns that 40% of the population may withdraw support for a corrupt regime. According to the dos Santos family, the father was in contact with opposition members, which is another reason they believe he should be eliminated.
