Caxito – The first governor of the northern Bengo province Manuel Lopes Maria "Ximutu" passed away friday of prolonged illness in a hospital in Luanda.

Lopes Maria "Ximutu" was born in Nambuangongo, Bengo province, in 1922, and joined the MPLA movement during the guerrilla in the first political military region.

He was a political activist and had been the first secretary of the MPLA Bengo provincial committee and MP.

The newly appointed Bengo pronvice governor, Joao Bernardo de Miranda is being introduced today to the members of the local government and the civil society.