State
Funeral For The Late Ex-President, Major-General,
Dr.Joseph Saidu Momoh
The
late Major-General Dr. Joseph Saidu Momoh, former
President of the Republic of Sierra Leone from
1985 to 1992, who died in Conakry, Republic
of Guinea on Sunday 3rd August 2003, was on
Sunday 24 August 2003, laid in state at the
State Hall of Parliament Building, Tower Hill,
Freetown.
At
the State Laying-Out ceremony of the late Major-General
Joseph Saidu Momoh were His Excellency the President,
Alhaji Dr. Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, Vice President
Solomon Berewa, members of the family of the
late President, Cabinet Ministers and Government
officials, Parliamentarians, members
of the opposition APC party of which the late
Dr.Joseph Saidu Momoh was a former leader, representatives
of the ruling Sierra Leone People's Party
(SLPP) and other mourners.
By
10:00am mourners were already seated in the
State Hall of Parliament and at 10:50am the
remains of the late former President arrived
in a cortege at the entrance of Parliament Building
and received by the Speaker of Parliament, the
Deputy Speaker, Leader of the majority party,
the minority party leader, Minister of Parliamentary
and Political Affairs and members of Parliament.
This was followed by a solemn precession through
the vestibule to the State Hall. The remains
were then laid on the catafalque.
By
10:55 Vice President Solomon Berewa arrived
and President Kabbah entered the State Hall
at exactly 11:00am to the blast of the Presidential
Salute, followed by the National Anthem. Christian
as well as Muslim prayers were offered and the
casket was opened.
Tributes
to his memory were read first by the Vice President,
Honourable Solomon Berewa, and followed by Hon.
Justice Edmond K. Cowan, Speaker of Parliament,
Hon. Ernest Bai Koroma, leader of the All People's
Congress Party (APC), Mr. E.T. Kamara on behalf
of the family, Mr Osman Yansaneh, a friend of
the late former President, and representatives
of his alma mater, the Collegiate Secondary
School, and Blackpool Football Club.
By
12:15 pm mourners started to file pass the casket,
led by His Excellency, President Kabbah, who
laid a wreath. The casket was closed at 2:00
pm and by 2:30 pm the funeral cortege, with
the casket mounted on a gun-carriage with full
military honours, departed Parliament Building
for church service at the Samaria West African
Methodist Church at Waterloo Street.
Funeral
Services commenced at 3:00 pm and ended by 4:00
pm. The funeral cortege then left the Samaria
West Afrucan Methodist Church for the Kissy
Road Cemetery where interment prayers were held
and the remains laid to rest, accompanied by
the Sounding of the Last Post.
MAY
HIS SOUL REST IN PEACE.
-End-
