Luanda – The Angolan head of State, José Eduardo dos Santos, paid homage Friday in Luanda to nationalist Manuel Lopes Maria “Ximutu”, who died of disease on Thursday.

José Eduardo dos Santos, accompanied by high ranking figures of the ruling MPLA party, paid homage to the nationalist that was the first governor of northern Bengo province.

Born in the district of Nambuangongo, Bengo, on September 1922, Manuel Lopes Maria “Ximutu” joined the MPLA party in the first political and military region, during the liberation struggle.