Congo declared mourning on Friday, setting its flag on half mast and banning all unauthorized demonstrations in honor of Jacques Joachim Yhombi Opango (81), its short-lived president between 1977 and 1979, who was overthrown by Denis Sassou-Nguesso. Died in late March of coronavirus in France, his bodyguards were repatriated Thursday to Brazzaville.
as reported from Brazzaville, Loïcia Martial
Esplanade of the Palais des Congrès, at 11:15 a.m., the coffin of President Yhombi Opango covered by the Congolese flag arrives at the site. It is worn by a dozen officers, wearing various berets, who place it under a chapel decorated in the colors of the nation.
Under a sunless sky, a helicopter from the armed forces multiplies the turns. Before the head of state Denis Sassou-Nguesso bows before the remnants in the company of his wife Antoinette visibly in tears, Deputy Prime Minister Firmin Ayesse takes the floor to trace the journey to the very first Congolese general officer, also a tireless politician.
“After the unanimous perception of all, his progression and his streaks, the various levels he has brilliantly climbed are the fruit of merit, of true merit. Man is a soldier in soul and in flesh, completely devoted to his profession. This energetic and tireless worker has never ceased all the time to reject and stigmatize laziness, carelessness and chaos, as he liked to say.
After the tribute, which lasted just over an hour, the remains of Yhombi Opango were transferred to Owando, his stronghold in northern Congo, where it is buried this Saturday.
► To read also: Congo-Brazzaville: death in Paris of former President Yhombi Opango
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