João Rodrigues Lopes, known as Ludy Kissassunda, died in Portugal on January 6th, due to illness.
The homage was paid at the Angolan Armed Forces (FAA) Infantry 20 (RI20), in Luanda, where the body is being veiled, which arrived on Thursday in Luanda.
Following the military honours, João Lourenço bowed to the urn containing the remains of the 88 year old general, left words of comfort to the bereaved family and signed the book of condolences.
"General Ludy Kissassunda is a nationalist of the generation of armed struggle for national independence who, throughout his trajectory, has performed important functions in the state apparatus. In this moment of pain and grief, I take the opportunity, on my own behalf, my family and the Angolan executive, to express my deepest sympathy to the family and all my fellow fighters," wrote João Lourenço.
Kissassunda was part of the first delegation of the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) that arrived in Luanda and after the independence he performed several functions in the State as governor of the provinces of Zaire, his homeland, and Malanje.
Between 1975 and 1979, he also held the position of general director of the now extinct DISA (Direcção de Informação e Segurança de Angola), the former Angolan 'secret'.
Several personalities linked to the government, deputies, members of the judiciary, of the forces of order and security of the state, former combatants and militants of the MPLA paid tribute to Ludy Kissassunda.
Luísa Damião, MPLA vice-president, considered Ludy Kissassunda as a "selfless and intransigent fighter who gave his best for his homeland and for our country", referring that the general leaves a "legacy of struggle and patriotism".
"Our party gets more impoverished with the departure of this freedom fighter who has distinguished himself in the fulfillment of several missions not only as a partisan, but also in the government, and in fact he is a man that deserves to be remembered in the history of the country and of the MPLA," he said in statements to journalists.
However, many actors of the civil society and the political mosaic of Angola contest the role of Ludy Kissassunda as director of the extinct DISA, considering him as one of the main principals of the persecutory actions to the opponents of Agostinho Neto, who followed after the events of May 27, 1977.
The 27th of May 1977 was an alleged coup attempt, led by Nito Alves, former leader of MPLA, which gave rise to the so-called fractionism, a political movement in opposition to MPLA leader and first Angolan president, Agostinho Neto.
The "failed" coup d'état, history prays, took a period of two years of "bloody persecution" and culminated with thousands of deaths.
The Minister of National Defense and Former Combatants, João Ernesto dos Santos "Liberty", defined, in the occasion, Ludy Kissassunda as "a great nationalist, great patriot and fighter of the fight for independence" of Angola.
Regarding the controversies about his performance as director of DISA, the minister noted that "these are different moments", emphasizing that, in the functions of governor and head of DISA, "he performed the tasks according to the moment".
The governor of Zaire, Pedro Makita Júlia, also present at the funeral ceremony, was dismayed by the death of the nationalist, with whom he worked for several years in the government of that province in northern Angola, praising his advice.
Asked about Kissassunda's performance at DISA, Pedro Makita Júlia said that these were "issues of the country" that occurred in a "very troubled moment of Angola's history".
"And I think they are not issues to be raised here and now, at this moment when we are paying homage and I abstain from making reference," he replied to Lusa.
In turn, the general and MPLA deputy, Roberto Leal Monteiro "Ngongo", praised Ludy Kissassunda's trajectory of struggle, with whom he worked on the eastern front in 1972, affirming that he always saw in him "an honest and dedicated person to the cause of the people" of Angola.
"And that initial image could dissipate after all these years, but it has never dissipated, the image that I have of comrade Ludy is really that of someone dedicated to the cause and upright," he said.
"Unfortunately he suffered some unfair hardships, this is part of a whole process, but he is a person who deserves all our respect," he noted.
When asked to specify the hardships he said he had suffered, Ludy Kissassunda, MP "Ngongo" replied: "Some things in the way of all the processes of our struggle, in relation to the 27th of May, in relation to a whole series of issues that we do not agree".
"He fulfilled what was the defense of our homeland, the defense of our revolution, the defense of our cause. Those who wanted to divert the path of the Angolan revolution, in fact, deserved the punishment due afterwards and so we continue," he observed.
Ludy Kissassunda will be buried this Friday at Alto das Cruzes cemetery in Luanda.
