The Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia led a team of government appointees to visit the family house of the late Alhaji Iddrisu Bature at Mamobi last Saturday to express condolence to the deceased and to pray for his soul in a pre-internment Islamic service.
The arrival of the Vice President added a fresh and solemn dimension to the ambience at the family house which held the remains of the former Managing Editor after they were brought from the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital where he passed on last Friday afternoon.
Accompanying the Vice President were the Acting General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party, John Boadu, Business Development Minister Mohammed Awal, Hon Boniface Abubakar Saddique, Zongo Development Minister, Chief Executive Officer of the National Petroleum Authority, Alhassan Tampuli among others – their arrival becoming the cynosure of the solemn gathering.
The Vice President and his entourage performed the Islamic protocol of praying for the soul of the deceased just before they were conveyed to the Madina Public Cemetery where they were laid to rest in consonance with the tenets of the faith.
Hundreds of sympathizers turned up at the burial ground attracting the attention of both residents of the area and motorists driving through the area as they wondered about the record sympathizers for a single burial.
The sympathizers cut across both political divides, NPP and NDC as Muslims buried their differences to pay their last respect to the man who made his mark on radio political talks for many years.
The deceased would be remembered for his role in the so-called Gissele Yagjie story in which former President John Agyekum Kufuor was accused of fathering twins with an Iraqi woman – allegation which eventually turned out to be hot air.
In recent times, he turned the heat on former President Jerry John Rawlings.
Ibrahim Mahama, the junior brother of former President John Mahama, was spotted rushing to enter the cemetery having turned up a few minutes after the remains of the deceased were brought in from Mamobi. He too was at the Mamobi family house of the deceased.
A few months ago, the deceased invited the National Chief Imam Sheikh Osman Nuhu Sharubutu and friends when he outdoored his new Madina residence.
Alhaji Bature was rushed to the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital after a short illness where he eventually yielded up the ghost.
Those who remembered his last days recalled when he turned up to sign the book of condolence when Kaba of Multimedia passed on. They especially found in his death the fact of death being secret; those penciled to die next not knowing that they are due for the great transfer to the spiritual world.
Until his demise, he was the Managing Editor of the Alhaji newspaper.
Unfortunately, his pal, former President John Mahama, could not turn up for his burial as he was in the Brong Ahafo Region on the day of the internment.
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