Manuel Saturnino da Costa (1942-2021) Politician

Manuel Saturnino da Costa (1942-2021) Politician
Manuel Saturnino da Costa
Birth 29 Nov 1942
Death 10 Mar 2021 (aged 78)
Bissau, Bissau Sector, Bissau Sector, Guinea-Bissau
Burial Details Unknown
Bissau-Guinean Statesman

He served as the Prime Minister of Guinea-Bissau from October 26, 1994 to June 6, 1997. He was known as one of the leaders in the Guinea-Bissau War of Independence against Portugal in the 1960s and early 1970s.

After the country gained its independence in 1974, he served in the foreign service, as ambassdor to both Cuba and the U.S.S.R.. In 1980, when President Joao Bernardo Vieira took power in a coup, he became general secretary of the main political party, PAIGC. He continued to serve in this position until 1994 when Vieira named him as prime minister. His tenure in this position would last for the next three years until he stepped down in 1997.

Manuel Saturnino da Costa Gravesite

In 2000, he, along with several other top government ministers, were arrested for embezzlement, but they were acquitted three years later.

He continued being in the hierarchy of the PAIGC, but grew distanced from the party. At the time of his passing, he was a vocal supporter of the opposition party Madem G-15, which was founded by dissidents of the PAIGC.