Guinea-Bissau Mourns ex-President Kumba Yala
Guinea-Bissau paid its last respects on Friday to Kumba Yala, the philosophy teacher turned president who ruled the west African nation from 2000 to 2003 and died three weeks ago aged 61.
Thousands of political activists, government members, family and friends attended his funeral at a military base in Bissau, many waving banners declaring "eternal glory to Kumba Yala" and "even in death, our president gives us hope".
"Kumba Yala's death is a great loss for our country, for his family and for the party he created," said Adiato Djalo Nandigna, a senior member of the ruling African Independence Party of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde and the country's prime minister for a brief period in 2012.
"Yala was a patriot who served his country. It is fitting that at his death the country has come together to pay him the homage he deserves."
The mourners included hundreds of elders from his Balanta ethnic group, notable for the red bobble hat which made Yala so distinctive during his time in office.
A funeral cortege processed to Yala's party headquarters, where activists knelt in front of his body before moving on to the National Assembly for the official commemoration.
Yala died of a heart attack in the early hours of April 4, according to a government statement.
Born on March 15, 1953 to a family of peasant farmers in Pkon, a village near the northwestern town of Bula, Yala was partly educated in Portugal, the former colonial power.
He became a professor of philosophy and also acquired a law degree. He mastered Portuguese, Spanish, French and English.
When he turned to politics, he gained a reputation as a determined character who at first won the hearts of many of the people of Guinea-Bissau, which was born of a rebellion against the Portuguese.
He was elected civilian president in 2000 in a country where the all-powerful army pulls many strings and which has in recent years become a hub for drug trafficking between South America and Europe.
Some of Yala's policies began to cause political and social turmoil and, three years after his election, the military removed him from office in a bloodless coup.
"Kumba Yala is gone, but he left others to continue his work. I ask all our members to show courage to overcome pain," said Alberto Nambeia, chairman of Yala's opposition Party for Social Renewal.
Source: Agence France Presse
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