Former Guinean First Lady Hadja Andrée Touré, who died on July 8 in Morocco, will be laid to rest on Sunday, July 12, in Conakry.
This will follow a national tribute ceremony including a symposium and a funeral prayer, according to the official programme announced by the Presidency.
Guinean President Mamadi Doumbouya has been leading tributes to Hadja Andrée Touré, widow of Guinea’s first president after independence, Ahmed Sékou Touré, who passed away on Wednesday in Morocco at the age of 91.
Doumbouya hailed her as a figure associated with the “founding years” of the nation’s independence.
The head of state said the former First Lady “was, alongside President Ahmed Sékou Touré, a privileged witness and a discreet actor” in Guinea’s political history.
“Through her, a living part of our national memory is fading away,” Mamadi Doumbouya stated, adding that Hadja Andrée Touré had endured “the trials of our shared history with exemplary dignity.”
The Guinean Presidency announced an official funeral programme in honour of the former First Lady. Her remains are expected to arrive on Saturday, July 11, at 6:00 p.m. at Ahmed Sékou Touré International Airport in Conakry.
A symposium paying tribute to the deceased is scheduled for Sunday morning at 9:00 a.m. at the Palais du Peuple, followed by a funeral prayer at 1:30 p.m. at Fayçal Mosque. The burial ceremony will take place at 2:00 p.m. at the Cases Bellevue site, according to the Presidency.
Guinean authorities have invited national institutions, friendly countries, partners and citizens to take part in this moment of national remembrance.
Born in 1934, Hadja Andrée Touré was the wife of Ahmed Sékou Touré, who served as President of Guinea from 1958 to 1984, a period marked by the country’s independence and several decades of rule under the Democratic Party of Guinea (PDG).
She leaves behind a historic figure in Guinea’s political memory, whose life remains closely linked to the early years of the country’s national sovereignty.
AC/lb/as/APA