Remains of Chereponi MP to be interred on Monday

Page 12, Aug 8, 2009
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah

THE remains of the late Member of Parliament (MP) for Chereponi, Mrs Doris Asibi Seidu, will be interred at her home town, Chereponi in the Northern Region, on Monday, August 10, 2009.
The MP died at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, after battling with a protracted illness, on Saturday, August 1, 2009.
The Majority Leader, Mr Alban Bagbin, who informed the Daily Graphic, said already the family of the deceased had formally informed Parliament about her death.
A letter addressed to the Majority Leader by the husband of the deceased, Mr Abdul-Karim Tahiru, on behalf of the bereaved family said Mrs Seidu had been suffering from a hole-in-heart condition for the past year.
According to Mr Bagbin, Parliament had established a committee to liaise with the bereaved family in order to organise a befitting burial and funeral for the late MP.
He said the body would be flown from Accra to Tamale before being conveyed in an ambulance to her home town where she would be laid to rest in the Muslim tradition.
Mr Bagbin added that the Northern Regional Minister and district chief executives in the area had all been informed to assist in the organisation of the funeral.
Arrangements had been put in place to convey MPs and sympathisers to Chereponi to take part in the funeral activities, he said.
Mrs Seidu won the Chereponi seat on the ticket of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in 2004 and retained it in the 2008 elections when she polled 9,188 out of the 17,559 valid votes cast, representing 53 per cent of the votes.
She served on the Education and Mines and Energy committees in Parliament.
Her death means a bye-election will be held to find a replacement.
The Chereponi Constituency is made up of two ethnic groups, the Chokosis and the Kokombas, and political analysts argue that the NPP would need to get a candidate, who, like the late MP, laid claim to both groups if it wants to retain the seat.
Mrs Seidu was a teacher and social worker by profession. She is survived by a husband and one child.