Angola’s founding president, António Agostinho Neto, was posthumously awarded a medal of honour commemorating 50 years of national independence on Tuesday as President João Lourenço led a vibrant golden jubilee celebration in the capital Luanda.
The ceremony, held under the national colours of red and yellow, marked five decades since Angola gained independence from Portuguese colonial rule on 11 November 1975.
President Lourenço presented the medal in tribute to Neto’s pivotal role in the country’s liberation struggle and his leadership as Angola’s first head of state.
Neto, a physician, poet and revolutionary, led the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) during the armed struggle for independence.
He became president upon Angola’s independence and served until his death in Moscow in 1979.
Widely revered as a symbol of national unity and resistance, Neto laid the ideological and institutional foundations of the Angolan state.
Tuesday’s commemorations drew regional and international dignitaries, including Indian President Droupadi Murmu, Republic of Congo’s President Denis Sassou Nguesso, Namibian President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah and Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
The event featured military parades, cultural performances and tributes to Angola’s independence heroes, with Lourenço calling for renewed national unity and economic transformation in the next chapter of the country’s history.
JN/APA