Eleven years after his death, the remains of the former president of Guinea-Bissau and the hero of the war of independence against Portugal, Joao Bernardo Vieira, known as Nino Vieira, murdered in 2009, were transferred to the cemetery of martyrs, the Bissau-Guinean pantheon.
Former President Joao Bernardo Vieira should have been buried in the Square of the Heroes of Independence, in Damura Fortress. President Umaro Sissoco Embalo has decided to rectify this injustice by transferring his remains to the Pantheon of Bissau-Guinea.
However, President Vieira’s funeral in the martyrs’ cemetery is far from unanimous in his family. For some of his children, the authorities should have first clarified the circumstances of his murder.João Bernardo Vieira was assassinated on March 2, 2009 of a group of soldiers who say they have avenged their leader, General Batista Tagmé Na Waie, killed a few hours earlier in a bomb attack.
“We want the president to respect us, Nino’s children. Isabel Romano Fereira Vieira is not the only woman who has had children with Nino Vieira. The President respected us. I ask her with dignity to let the family come together to pay tribute to our beloved father, says Florencia Vieira, her eldest daughter.
President Embalo then replied: “I simply informed his wife by telling her that we will bury President Nino Vieira with his companion Amilcar Cabral. For this I do not need permission, because Nino is a national heritage. It belongs to all children in this country. So it does not just belong to his wife or his children. ”
Mali’s interim president, Bah N’Daw, was the guest of honor at the ceremony.
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