Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi and thousands of mourners pay tribute to Afonso Dhlakama
Beira — Mozambique’s president and thousands of mourners who flocked to the port city of Beira on Wednesday paid final respects to Afonso Dhlakama, a former rebel supremo turned opposition leader who died last week. Draped with the national flag, the casket bearing the remains of Dhlakama, a towering figure in the country’s political history, was carried into the square by military pallbearers wearing camouflage fatigues and white gloves. Dhlakama died of a suspected heart attack last Thursday at his hideout in the Gorongosa mountains in the centre of the country. The memorial service is being held about in Beira, capital of Dhlakama’s home province of Sofala. President Filipe Nyusi will deliver a eulogy of his political rival, who led Renamo for nearly 40 years before his unexpected death at the age of 65. "It is an irreparable loss. Afonso Dhlakama is the founder of democracy in Mozambique. His fight ended with the communist regime created just after the country’s independence," s...
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